Greenleaf Trust Acquires 1,441 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,071.4% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $277.71 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $295.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.81.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.