HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires 10,870 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,367 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,870 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $305,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

PANW stock opened at $172.76 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.