Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 99.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 116,626 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,244 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.7% of Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $21,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $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 third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,844,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % 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 valued at $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $190.43 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.32.

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

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.