3,010 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Acquired by Uniting Wealth Partners LLC

Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,010 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 149.1% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 6,001 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 3,592 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 557,775 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $190,655,000 after acquiring an additional 89,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their price target on 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. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Stephens began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $173.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $114.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.