WealthTrust Axiom LLC Acquires 2,340 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,680 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,340 shares during the quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $22,127,000 after buying an additional 5,133 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,754,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4 %

PANW stock traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $169.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,623,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,869,722. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.14, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.60 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $181.19 and a 200 day moving average of $184.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

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.