Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $1.45 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 118.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,944 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,303 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,714,000 after acquiring an additional 49,391 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $184.96 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.38. 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 $122.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.20, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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, KeyCorp increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

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.