Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Virtus ETF Advisers LLC

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 134.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,359 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,650 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,553 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 280 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 19,673 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,580,000 after purchasing an additional 9,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 150,307 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,350,000 after purchasing an additional 75,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.92 on Wednesday, reaching $185.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,514,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,794,573. The company has a market capitalization of $122.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.64, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $176.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.70. 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 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Stephens initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

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.