Nicholas Company Inc. Purchases 136,582 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 71.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326,884 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 136,582 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $59,480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $411,000. Altus Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Glenview Trust co lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 105.2% in the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 9,192 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 143.3% during the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 1,426 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 4,616 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,627 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $182.34 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $120.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.