Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Lifted by Marco Investment Management LLC

Marco Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,829 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 66,354 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 2.1% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $179.33 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $118.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.71.

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 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.