Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Has $503,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,705 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $503,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,961 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.5% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 425 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of PANW traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $272.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 893,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,615,276. The stock has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a PE ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $302.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.99.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.