Modern Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 106.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,770 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $184.96 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $122.46 billion, a PE ratio of 104.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.