Triad Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $298,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $297,450,000 after buying an additional 848,127 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $184.28 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $186.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.74. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $122.01 billion, a PE ratio of 103.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.