Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,816 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded down $2.64 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $288.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,574,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,147. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $284.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.04. The company has a market capitalization of $93.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.