MONECO Advisors LLC Buys 1,936 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MONECO Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 244.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,727 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,410 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,350,000 after buying an additional 9,028 shares in the last quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the fourth quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,648 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after buying an additional 6,057 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 7,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $190.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.92. The company has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.69.

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.