Altus Wealth Group LLC Invests $214,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Altus Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,176 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $334,697,000 after acquiring an additional 878,400 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $182.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.73, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $185.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.