Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 98.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,770 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and cut their target price for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.4 %

PANW stock opened at $182.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $120.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.73, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $185.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.