Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,235 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $364,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Pacific Financial grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $275.02 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $300.91 and a 200-day moving average of $290.27. The company has a market capitalization of $88.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.97, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.