Sierra Capital LLC Buys 1,867 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sierra Capital LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 97.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,774 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Sierra Capital LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,731,000 after buying an additional 5,250 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Three investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3 %

PANW opened at $190.39 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.85 and a 200 day moving average of $183.92. The stock has a market cap of $126.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.26, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

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

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.