Keystone Financial Group Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Keystone Financial Group grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 669.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,814 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,798 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $168.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $111.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.18 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.79.

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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602. 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.