Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,703 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Pacific Financial grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. grew 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 acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Northland Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $293.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.86, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 1.19.

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

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.