Bell Investment Advisors Inc Has $100,000 Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 550 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $297,450,000 after acquiring an additional 848,127 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $180.93 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 101.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $186.05 and its 200 day moving average is $184.81. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

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

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.