Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 130.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,360 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,030 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $102,670,000 after buying an additional 431,228 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% in the 3rd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 493,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,591,000 after buying an additional 405,553 shares during the period. Finally, Mirova US LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $106,638,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Northland Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $5.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $288.79. 2,656,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,462,316. The business’s fifty day moving average is $290.67 and its 200 day moving average is $291.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

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.