Gouws Capital LLC Purchases 8,115 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Gouws Capital LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 90.3%, acquiring an additional 8,115 shares, bringing its total ownership to 17,105 shares valued at approximately $2.9 million.
• Over 79% of Palo Alto Networks' stock is held by institutional investors, highlighting strong interest from hedge funds in the cybersecurity company.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging around $209.61, despite some recent downgrades from analysts.

Gouws Capital LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 90.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,105 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 8,115 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.7% of Gouws Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Gouws Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% during the 4th quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.61.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. The trade was a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $167.06 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average is $194.23 and its 200-day moving average is $186.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The firm has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.94.

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