2,520 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Purchased by Argos Wealth Advisors LLC

Argos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,520 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after buying an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after buying an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after buying an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $802,691,000 after buying an additional 319,751 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $215.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $175.93 billion, a PE ratio of 119.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.60.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.