Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. Invests $3.20 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Jones Kertz & Associates opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks, buying 17,390 shares worth about $3.20 million, representing roughly 1.6% of the firm's portfolio and its 21st largest holding.
• CEO Nikesh Arora made a large insider purchase of 68,085 shares for about $9.99 million
• Palo Alto Networks recently beat quarterly EPS expectations ($1.03 vs. $0.94) with revenue up 14.9% year‑over‑year, and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $210.07.

Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,390 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,203,000. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.6% of Jones Kertz & Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GraniteShares Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 7,029 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 10,605 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,953,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 6,600 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 2,220 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Finivi Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Finivi Inc. now owns 4,071 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $169.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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