Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,919 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 80,264 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $18,817,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 34.6% during the third quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.7% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 2,096 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 27.7% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $291.42. 2,246,512 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.53, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $287.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $292.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.