Beck Capital Management LLC Buys 20,317 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Beck Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 99.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,701 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 20,317 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.0% of Beck Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Beck Capital Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in 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. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of PANW traded up $2.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $178.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,534,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,823,934. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.00 and a one year high of $208.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $176.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.72.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

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.