SlateStone Wealth LLC Acquires 55 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,750 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. PDS Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $494,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 56,866 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,769,000 after buying an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $555,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Loop Capital lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on 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. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven 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, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $12.13 on Tuesday, reaching $293.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,758,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,513,620. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $293.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.51. The firm has a market cap of $94.93 billion, a PE ratio of 45.47, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $176.30 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.