Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Increased by Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,185 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,305 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Pacific Financial boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during 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. Webster Bank N. A. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $290.89 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $284.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were 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 owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.