Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 716 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.63 on Friday, hitting $291.42. 2,245,297 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,423,290. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $287.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.53, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.