Tremblant Capital Group Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Tremblant Capital Group increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 75.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 121,497 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,095 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.3% of Tremblant Capital Group's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Tremblant Capital Group's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grassi Investment Management raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 7,910 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,439,000 after acquiring an additional 4,880 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,372 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 101.6% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 8,937 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 4,504 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,258 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,325.5% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 26,996 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 25,883 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.8%

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $13.22 on Wednesday, reaching $181.26. 19,030,467 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,645,497. The company has a market capitalization of $120.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.12, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $178.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.29.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.