Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC Buys 10,868 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares during the period. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,010,403,000 after buying an additional 2,067,838 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of 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, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $186.93. The company had a trading volume of 5,904,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,810,636. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.00 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.