Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Purchases 153 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,597 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $277.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $295.46 and its 200 day moving average is $290.81. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.