Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 91.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 500,515 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238,872 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.9% of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $91,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $182.32 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.71 billion, a PE ratio of 102.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on PANW shares. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

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.