Ethic Inc. Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 128.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,481 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,271 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $186.93. The stock had a trading volume of 3,209,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,733,951. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.77 billion, a P/E 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Susquehanna lifted their price target 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. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. 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.