Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 107.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,757 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nelson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in 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 worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,408 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the last quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 30,429 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 15,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,887 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

PANW opened at $189.55 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.60 and a 200 day moving average of $184.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.79, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.