MONECO Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MONECO Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 687 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,082 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $444,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 1,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $343.36 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.64 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $327.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.68.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $333.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,443,596.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 367,315 shares of company stock worth $118,696,590. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.