NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Has $8.56 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,049 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 23,552 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised 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. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at $55,458,002.70. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

PANW stock traded up $4.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.78. The company had a trading volume of 11,416,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,559,007. The business has a 50 day moving average of $178.31 and a 200 day moving average of $184.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

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

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.