Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC Has $5.40 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,293 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,623 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 2.1% of Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,263,000 after buying an additional 1,282,738 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $162,161,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $151,682,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.1% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,532,201 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $750,875,000 after buying an additional 708,332 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $227.79 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $228.85. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.69. The company has a market cap of $185.88 billion, a PE ratio of 125.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $212.09.

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.