Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. Acquires 5,509 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 73.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,026 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,509 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $194.48. 9,202,119 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,679,412. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $178.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.32. The company has a market cap of $128.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.57, a PEG 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 293,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.