Conning Inc. Invests $353,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Conning Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,196 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were 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 owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,017 shares of company stock worth $52,068,877 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $281.00 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $303.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.60, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

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.