Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC Takes $209,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,036 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.8 %

PANW opened at $186.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $123.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $176.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.00 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.