Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Makes New $761,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 4,181 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $761,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,010,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $152.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.93 billion, a PE ratio of 85.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.86 and a 200-day moving average of $185.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.83 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 818,544 shares of company stock worth $147,132,028 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.