Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Invests $437,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Zega Financial LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the third quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, KeyCorp increased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $182.32 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.71 billion, a PE ratio of 102.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $186.59 and its 200-day moving average is $185.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts anticipate 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.