Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Purchases 6,281 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 432.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,735 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.3% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,909 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Facet Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $249,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.4% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 146,498 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,830,000 after purchasing an additional 72,650 shares in the last quarter. Gouws Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.7% during the third quarter. Gouws Capital LLC now owns 18,117 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,689,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.2% during the third quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Stephens increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $182.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $189.06 and its 200 day moving average is $195.25. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.