Circle Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Circle Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 97.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,118 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,490 shares during the period. Circle Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,650,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,717,742. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $127.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.84, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.85.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.