Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 1,305 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,185 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,305 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $102,670,000 after purchasing an additional 431,228 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 493,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,591,000 after buying an additional 405,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirova US LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,638,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $290.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.45, a PEG ratio of 3.99 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $284.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $293.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Loop Capital lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. 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 for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Northland Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,917 shares of company stock worth $33,959,203 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.