Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 86.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 819,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 380,796 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.12% of Palo Alto Networks worth $153,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research 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 two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.0 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $153.57 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.83 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.36.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.