GS Investments Inc. Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GS Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,341 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,545 shares during the quarter. GS Investments Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds LLC. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 1,220 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.54 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $186.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.