Semus Wealth Partners LLC Buys 1,882 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 6,541 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,003 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,052,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.29. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.04 and a 12-month high of $208.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.34, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PANW. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.70.

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.