Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Aire Advisors LLC

Aire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 104.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,781 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $184.79 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.11, 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 fifty day moving average price is $186.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.23.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% 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.