Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Main Street Financial Solutions LLC

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 112.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,514 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of PANW opened at $169.76 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.73. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.60 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.40 billion, a PE ratio of 95.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.91.

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.