Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 1,287 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,287 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $751,276,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $204,728,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $85,025,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $102,670,000 after purchasing an additional 431,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% during the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 493,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $115,591,000 after purchasing an additional 405,553 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $272.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Eleven equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John Donovan sold 20,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.57, for a total value of $5,810,645.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,510,086.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John Donovan sold 20,136 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.57, for a total value of $5,810,645.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,510,086.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 143,153 shares of company stock valued at $44,107,332 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $284.13. The company had a trading volume of 3,397,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,021,122. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $320.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $286.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $91.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.31, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.