Shum Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Shum Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,777 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Shum Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. JDM Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Adero Partners LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% in the first quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Snider Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the first quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 17,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 1,310 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $199.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $187.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.