Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Clearstead Trust LLC

Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 97.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,396 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,133 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.5% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 25,064 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,567,000 after purchasing an additional 16,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $182.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.73 billion, a PE ratio of 102.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.