18,060 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Purchased by RIA Advisory Group LLC

RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,060 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,326,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.5% of RIA Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $751,276,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,728,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,025,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $102,670,000 after purchasing an additional 431,228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ PANW traded down $3.43 on Friday, hitting $277.71. 4,694,640 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,584,631. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $297.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Northland Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.