MFG Wealth Management Inc. Has $2.87 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MFG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,790 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,981 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.7% of MFG Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. MFG Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" 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 and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 795,536 shares of company stock worth $141,007,618 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

PANW stock traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $202.34. The company had a trading volume of 5,260,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,426,733. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.92 billion, a PE ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $189.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.33. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Research analysts predict 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.