Portus Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $1.31 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Portus Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,412 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,306,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.3% of Portus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $169.19 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.20. The firm has a market cap of $138.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.