World Equity Group Inc. Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 309.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,030 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,802 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 112.6% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 134,696 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $24,509,000 after purchasing an additional 71,348 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $842,000. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 99.3% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 51,980 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $9,458,000 after acquiring an additional 25,896 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 244.8% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 2,727 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $191.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.48. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.