Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Increased by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 144.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,153 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,498 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 715 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $190.39 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.92. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a PE ratio of 107.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

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.