Romano Brothers AND Company Purchases Shares of 1,103 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Romano Brothers AND Company acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,103 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $751,276,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $204,728,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,025,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $102,670,000 after acquiring an additional 431,228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $279.07 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $303.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.73. The company has a market cap of $90.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.60, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Northland Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Donovan sold 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $2,673,324.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,017,374.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director John Donovan sold 8,100 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total transaction of $2,673,324.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,017,374.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 176,017 shares of company stock worth $52,068,877. Corporate insiders own 3.30% 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.