WealthShield Partners LLC Purchases 11,072 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

WealthShield Partners LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,072 shares during the quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.6% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,168 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,867 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $191.03 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.