ProVise Management Group LLC Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

ProVise Management Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,576 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.54 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 105.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.