Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 33,114 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 111.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,858 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,114 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction 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 represents a 41.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PANW traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $188.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,675,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,739,385. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $175.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.73. The firm has a market cap of $124.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

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.