TCG Advisory Services LLC Takes $4.80 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

TCG Advisory Services LLC acquired 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 16,291 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,804,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $296.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,438,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,429,938. The company has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. The company's 50-day moving average price is $285.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.09 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.97 billion. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,917 shares of company stock worth $44,335,843 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.