Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 71.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,112 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,126 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $136,859,000 after buying an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays set a $200.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $164.11 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.79. The company has a market cap of $133.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.67, a PEG ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS 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%.Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.