MFG Wealth Management Inc. Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

MFG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,113 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.2% of MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,157 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 20,834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 8,407 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 43,121 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,943,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Finally, Park National Corp OH boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 208,583 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $38,421,000 after purchasing an additional 22,919 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $162.95 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.03, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.