Golden State Wealth Management LLC Acquires 8,545 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 124.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,437 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,545 shares during the quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $201.69 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $134.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.25, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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