GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,133 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,754,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $169.76 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.73. The stock has a market cap of $112.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.64, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.60 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.91.

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.