GM Advisory Group LLC Buys 3,436 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GM Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 177.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,370 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,436 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $183.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.23 billion, a PE ratio of 103.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $185.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.