MIG Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 1,772 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MIG Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,772 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $153.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.22. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.83 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,114,786 shares of company stock worth $200,426,637 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.