Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 107.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,831 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,019 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $187.54 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.00. The stock has a market cap of $124.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.66, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Analysts anticipate 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.