BIP Wealth LLC Takes $214,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 726 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $6,215,410,000 after acquiring an additional 304,272 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in 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 last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction 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 owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded down $4.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $289.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,665,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,449,009. The firm has a market cap of $93.53 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.30 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $290.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wedbush upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays decreased 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. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.