Gabelli Funds LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 93.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,590 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $167.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.47, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $180.06 and a 200 day moving average of $184.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.60 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.