Opinicus Capital Inc. Buys New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,554 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

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

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $291.42. 2,246,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $287.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

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.