Bluesphere Advisors LLC Buys 540 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bluesphere Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,712 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.9% of Bluesphere Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Bluesphere Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,215,410,000 after acquiring an additional 304,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after purchasing an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $389,832,000 after buying an additional 36,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,917 shares of company stock worth $33,959,203. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $292.62. 1,904,394 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,379,524. The business’s fifty day moving average is $287.61 and its 200 day moving average is $292.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

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.