Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,070 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PANW traded up $2.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $298.82. 650,808 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,238,930. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.75 and a 12-month high of $380.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $285.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.