United Bank Acquires 8,535 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 124.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,370 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,535 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.2% of United Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. United Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $970,736,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.39. 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 capitalization of $114.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % 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 valued at $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.