Trexquant Investment LP Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,622 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the third quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Barclays lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $171.31 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.