WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires Shares of 28,988 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 28,988 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,340,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.6% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 49.5% in the second quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. now owns 10,682 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after buying an additional 3,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 12.5% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 113,885 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $23,305,000 after buying an additional 12,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.3%

PANW stock opened at $173.78 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group set a $183.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 28,784 shares of company stock worth $4,709,116 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.