Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 105.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 584,877 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300,423 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.09% of Palo Alto Networks worth $106,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 68.6% during the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 4,779 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $848,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 4,306 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 506,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $92,237,000 after acquiring an additional 253,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.6% in the fourth quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.8 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $176.32 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $185.65 and its 200 day moving average is $184.73. The company has a market cap of $116.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.34, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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