Private Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 2,756 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Private Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 148.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,612 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,756 shares during the quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $205.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.68. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $134.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.60, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.