Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 92.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,908 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,544 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on PANW. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.22.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $2.00 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $192.90. 5,430,875 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,734,032. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.94. The firm has a market cap of $127.72 billion, a PE ratio of 108.68, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last three months. 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.