5,395 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Purchased by Novem Group

Novem Group acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,395 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $982,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake 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 worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $186.75. 4,898,365 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,612,883. The stock has a market cap of $123.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.11 and a 200 day moving average of $185.30.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $229.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.40.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.