Venturi Wealth Management LLC Acquires 7,717 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 118.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,224 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,717 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $205.19 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.04 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.11 and a 200 day moving average of $182.68. The firm has a market capitalization 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PANW. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is 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.