Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 19,802 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 460,550 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 19,802 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $85,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 774,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 104,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.4% during the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $162.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a PE ratio of 90.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $167.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.