Founders Financial Alliance LLC Buys 647 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,294 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $178.93 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.47 billion, a PE ratio of 100.81, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.78 and its 200-day moving average is $184.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.