Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 98.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,548 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,251 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Northland Securities lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3%

PANW traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $186.75. 4,898,365 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,628,151. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $178.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

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

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.