Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Has $831,000 Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 132.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,793 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,733 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $235,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 119.5% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,821,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 114.7% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 479,352 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $87,223,000 after purchasing an additional 256,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,114,786 shares of company stock worth $200,426,637 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $165.17 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.24. The firm has a market cap of $109.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

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.