11,424 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Purchased by Clare Market Investments LLC

Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,424 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 0.5% of Clare Market Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,844,000. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 50,650 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,322,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,571,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on PANW. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $180.93 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $119.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.93, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.