Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 82.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,486 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

PANW stock opened at $180.93 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.05 and a 200 day moving average of $184.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 101.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.