United Capital Management of KS Inc. Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

United Capital Management of KS Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 104.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,132 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,867 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.7% of United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $334,697,000 after buying an additional 878,400 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value 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 $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.4 %

PANW opened at $182.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.73, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.