Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Boosted by Community Bank N.A.

Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 103.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,226 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % 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 valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Guggenheim downgraded 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $182.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.71 billion, a PE ratio of 102.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $186.59 and a 200-day moving average of $185.05. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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.