Alliancebernstein L.P. Buys 969,693 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 101.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,921,919 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 969,693 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.29% of Palo Alto Networks worth $349,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.25.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.48. The stock has a market cap of $112.98 billion, a PE ratio of 96.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.