Navellier & Associates Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,716 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,858 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $191.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $187.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.25. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.