Mcdaniel Terry & Co. Purchases 819 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,731,000 after buying an additional 5,250 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $205.19 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.04 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $135.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.11 and a 200-day moving average of $182.68.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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 forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

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.