Cozad Asset Management Inc. Buys 431 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,483 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in 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. First Pacific Financial raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

PANW opened at $290.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.45, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $284.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Capital One Financial lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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. Insiders have 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.