Wealth Quarterback LLC Has $1.40 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Wealth Quarterback LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 78.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,703 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,388 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 0.7% of Wealth Quarterback LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Wealth Quarterback LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds LLC. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.29. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $208.35.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

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.