Arrow Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Arrow Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 84.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,499 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 5,258 shares during the quarter. Arrow Financial Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 65,840 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,980,000 after purchasing an additional 17,505 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 769.4% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.5% during the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 2,290 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Wealth Management grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 103.8% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 19,090 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,474,000 after buying an additional 9,724 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,188 shares of company stock valued at $74,074,795 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.92 on Tuesday, reaching $189.05. 1,306,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,764,266. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.94 and a 200 day moving average of $184.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.17 billion, a PE ratio of 106.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.