Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 26,226 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,772,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $253,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,187,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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 research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.29. The company has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $208.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current 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.