Whalerock Point Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Whalerock Point Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 125.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,866 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,487 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.2% of Whalerock Point Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Whalerock Point Partners LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.4% during the fourth quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,898 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares in the last quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.4% in the fourth quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 13,225 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,406,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 358.3% in the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 7,714 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 6,031 shares during the last quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.6% in the fourth quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 15,308 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,785,000 after acquiring an additional 7,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rinkey Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $733,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. 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. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $186.93. 5,904,391 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,810,636. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $176.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.00 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.31, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.