Sigma Planning Corp Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sigma Planning Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 135.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,191 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,058 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $191.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.09 and a 200 day moving average of $183.48. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.