Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,770 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 879 shares during the quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $388,155,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $334,697,000 after acquiring an additional 878,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $182.34 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.73 billion, a PE ratio of 102.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.