Archon Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Archon Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,030 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,015 shares during the period. Archon Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of PANW stock traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $178.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,534,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,818,611. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $176.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.50 billion, a PE ratio of 100.83, 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 $142.00 and a 52-week 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.