Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Alpha Family Trust

Alpha Family Trust lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,770 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Alpha Family Trust's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,642,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 9,269 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 1,224 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 256.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 648 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.8 %

PANW opened at $187.70 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $175.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $124.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.75, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

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.

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