Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,396 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $412,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after acquiring an additional 113,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,143,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $281.68 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $293.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.51. The firm has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS 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.