Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,709 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,007 shares during the quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 128.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,452 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,572,000 after acquiring an additional 5,880 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.6% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,750 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,067,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $152.44 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.83 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $100.93 billion, a PE ratio of 85.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 818,544 shares of company stock worth $147,132,028. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.