Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 48.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,930 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in 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 buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $102,670,000 after buying an additional 431,228 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% during 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 period. Finally, Mirova US LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $106,638,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Capital One Financial downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $291.42. 2,246,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $287.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.10. The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.