Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 3,194 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,462 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,194 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,215,410,000 after purchasing an additional 304,272 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after acquiring an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $389,832,000 after acquiring an additional 36,859 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of PANW opened at $290.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.45, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $284.64 and a 200 day moving average of $293.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Citigroup increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.