MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC Buys 9,087 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 97.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,447 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,087 shares during the quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0%

PANW stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $192.98. The stock had a trading volume of 4,182,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,714,844. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.09.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities raised 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. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.