Headinvest LLC Has $2.79 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 101.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,354 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,748 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position 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 position 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 position 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $187.60. 2,039,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,599,109. The firm has a market cap of $125.09 billion, a PE ratio of 105.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $178.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.40.

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.