Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 532,415 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $96,878,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Capital assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.22.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $192.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,430,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,727,373. The firm has a market cap of $127.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.