WP Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

WP Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 697 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 8,727 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,703 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,326,000. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 1,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

PANW traded down $3.43 on Friday, reaching $277.71. The stock had a trading volume of 4,751,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,424,591. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $295.46 and a 200-day moving average of $290.40. The company has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Capital One Financial downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Northland Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. 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 target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks 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.