Virtue Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 97.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,342 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in 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 buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Northland Securities lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $4.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.78. 11,416,203 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,559,007. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.96. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock 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 (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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.