Cable Hill Partners LLC Takes $213,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cable Hill Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,170 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heritage Investors Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.7% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 582,650 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $106,019,000 after purchasing an additional 287,935 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $76,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 121.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 65,951 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,000,000 after purchasing an additional 36,135 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.1% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 56,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,205,000 after purchasing an additional 28,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.50 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $186.57 and its 200 day moving average is $184.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.