Nicollet Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 99.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,752 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,793 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.0% of Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PANW. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.25.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $187.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.48. The firm has a market cap of $112.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.14, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.