Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Invests $348,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,912 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,844,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $184.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.82, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.74.

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

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

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.