Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Has $13.95 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 116.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,639 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,252 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.8% of Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 128.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,452 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,572,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 966.5% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,002 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $17,432,000 after buying an additional 46,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 174.4% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,718 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 3,634 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $153.57 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.83 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $185.60 and a 200 day moving average of $185.36. The firm has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.52, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.