Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $7.35 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 76.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,385 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,534 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th 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 period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $176.32 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.65 and a 200-day moving average of $184.73. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $116.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value 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. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.