MONECO Advisors LLC Buys 1,936 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MONECO Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 244.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,727 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.2% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,410 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,350,000 after purchasing an additional 9,028 shares during the period. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,648 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,119,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 7,330 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $190.39 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.06 billion, a PE ratio of 107.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % 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 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.69.

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.