Principal Street Partners LLC Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Principal Street Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 104.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,743 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,422 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.46.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $194.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $128.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.47, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.