Forge First Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Forge First Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,200 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Forge First Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total value of $153,979.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $201.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.23, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.42. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $248.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.14.

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.