Fonville Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fonville Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $751,276,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $204,728,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at $85,025,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% during the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $102,670,000 after purchasing an additional 431,228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $281.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,853,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,596,438. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $299.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.18. The firm has a market cap of $90.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.