Sandy Spring Bank Buys 68,450 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sandy Spring Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 105.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 133,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,450 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.0% of Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased 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. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in 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. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,714,000 after purchasing an additional 49,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% in the fourth quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 3,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $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 worth $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.54 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 105.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.00.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.