Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,888,000. HTLF Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $444,000. Finally, Fonville Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $684,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value 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 approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $277.71 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $295.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.40. The company has a market cap of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.