NFP Retirement Inc. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

NFP Retirement Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,702 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the period. NFP Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $168.34 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.18 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $182.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock worth $165,384,602 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by 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.