SPC Financial Inc. Invests $214,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

SPC Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,176 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during 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 during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.7% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 397 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18.3% during the third quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.2% during the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 1,449 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $184.28 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.74. The firm has a market cap of $122.01 billion, a PE ratio of 103.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.