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 shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,424 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,079,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 0.5% of Clare Market Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.5% in the fourth quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,102 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 131.6% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 43,316 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,882,000 after purchasing an additional 21,127 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 132.9% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,202 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 99.7% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,188 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,673,000 after purchasing an additional 10,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % 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 valued at $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $180.93 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $186.05 and a 200-day moving average of $184.81. 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 capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 101.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.