Smith Moore & CO. Buys 1,800 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Smith Moore & CO. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 104.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,526 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.0 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $153.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.22. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.83 and a 1 year 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,114,786 shares of company stock valued at $200,426,637 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.