JT Stratford LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

JT Stratford LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,414 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,208 shares during the quarter. JT Stratford LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total value of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $181.26 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.