Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,224 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $182.34 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.