McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

McGowan Group Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,652 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,666,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 72.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,059 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 115.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 141,909 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,822,000 after acquiring an additional 75,948 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 154.9% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 75.0% in the fourth quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 4,847 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crescent Sterling Ltd. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 102.1% in the fourth quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 1,910 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $193.50 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.85. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $128.12 billion, a PE ratio of 109.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last three months. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.