Woodline Partners LP Purchases 112,533 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Woodline Partners LP grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 53.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 321,196 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,533 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $58,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $194.30 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.47, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $177.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.26.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.46.

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.