Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 31.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after buying an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $253,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.1 %

PANW stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.24, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $208.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BTIG Research cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.