Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 70.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 884 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.40 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $292.09. 1,256,802 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,476,581. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $292.16 and its 200 day moving average is $291.84. The stock has a market cap of $94.37 billion, a PE ratio of 46.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

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.