Wesbanco Bank Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 29.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 143,151 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,561 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 0.8% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Wesbanco Bank Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in 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 worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a 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 $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $199.60 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $133.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $180.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.92.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company 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. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.

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