Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Forte Capital LLC ADV

Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Redburn Atlantic boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of PANW traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $296.21. 3,438,974 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,429,938. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.01. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.09 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.