26,226 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Purchased by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 26,226 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,772,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $253,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other 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 transaction of $126,854.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $208.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $186.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.29. The firm has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a PE ratio of 54.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly 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 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.70.

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.