Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 380,796 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 86.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 819,398 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 380,796 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Palo Alto Networks worth $153,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of PANW stock traded down $6.80 during trading on Thursday, hitting $166.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,132,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,898,145. The stock's 50-day moving average is $182.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.18 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.52.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.