Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in 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 lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in 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 boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during 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 raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in 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. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 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 worth $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $182.32 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.00. The company has a market cap of $120.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.72, a PEG 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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.