Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 712 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $272.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John Donovan sold 20,136 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.57, for a total value of $5,810,645.52. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,510,086.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 143,153 shares of company stock worth $44,107,332. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $283.95. 2,079,884 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,997,088. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.31, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.21. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 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.