Heck Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,916 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,916 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $713,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $185.82. 4,497,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,586,019. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $178.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.