Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Holdings Increased by Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 56.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,485 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $3,844,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Bank of America increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $184.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $122.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.74. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued 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. The business 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 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.