Boston Family Office LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Boston Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,546 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 50,235 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.3% of Boston Family Office LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 99.0% during the 4th quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,752 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,778,000 after acquiring an additional 15,793 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% during the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 2,664 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 4,680 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,367 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,861,000 after purchasing an additional 10,870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.48. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $112.98 billion, a PE ratio of 96.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.