Marietta Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Marietta Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,655 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $114,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 95.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,340 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 3,579 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $199.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $187.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Northland Securities decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

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.