Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 187 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,686 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% in 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,527 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $291.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,246,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.53, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $287.61 and its 200 day moving average is $292.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.