Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Boosted by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 85.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,955 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13,454.5% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 21,145 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,227,000 after purchasing an additional 20,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,831,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.39. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.