Forte Capital LLC ADV Acquires 2,435 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 91.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,094 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,435 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $198.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $131.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current 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.