Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Holdings Increased by Leelyn Smith LLC

Leelyn Smith LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,929 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,879 shares during the quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 8,184 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after buying an additional 4,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $185.00 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $122.49 billion, a PE ratio of 104.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.74 and its 200-day moving average is $184.97.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.