Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Increased by WealthBridge Capital Management LLC

WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 131.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,006 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $205.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.60, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.68. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.