Golden State Equity Partners Has $613,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake 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 worth $102,670,000 after purchasing an additional 431,228 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 493,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,591,000 after acquiring an additional 405,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirova US LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $106,638,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PANW traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $291.42. 2,246,512 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $287.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.10.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Northland Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.