Dorsey Wright & Associates Acquires 9,913 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,766 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,913 shares during the period. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $172.76 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.39. The stock has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its 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. 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.