SFE Investment Counsel Reduces Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,542 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,228 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 3.0% of SFE Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $751,276,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $204,728,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $85,025,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $102,670,000 after purchasing an additional 431,228 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.4 %

PANW stock traded up $3.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $281.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,427,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,575,287. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $290.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.04, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.