Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 14,535 shares during the quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $6,995,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 4,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 2,278 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 107.9% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 38,082 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,929,000 after acquiring an additional 19,762 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.0% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 150,017 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,297,000 after purchasing an additional 73,490 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $205.19 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.68. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $134.65 billion, a PE ratio of 115.60, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

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.