Linscomb Wealth Inc. Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,368 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,070 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,005,161 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $685,364,000 after buying an additional 31,595 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $297,450,000 after acquiring an additional 848,127 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $187.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $186.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.63, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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.