Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group Acquires 1,325 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 46.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ PANW traded up $3.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $280.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,106,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,572,102. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $299.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.18. The company has a market capitalization of $90.66 billion, a PE ratio of 44.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Northland Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% 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.