Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Lifted by Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,434 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of PANW stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, reaching $296.21. 3,438,974 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,429,938. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $285.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.09 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 158,917 shares of company stock worth $44,335,843 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.