Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Acquires 1,510 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $180.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.93, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $186.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.