Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. Invests $3.20 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Jones Kertz & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 17,390 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,203,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.6% of Jones Kertz & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. PTM Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% during the third quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. New Street Research cut 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 Thursday, February 19th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $169.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $138.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

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. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.