EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 106,508 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 55,506 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.60 on Friday, hitting $186.93. 3,209,190 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,728,128. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $176.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction 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 approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. Company 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.