Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Invests $394,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,337 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,563,020,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $106,638,000. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $81,918,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.3 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $10.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $321.60. 4,714,975 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,984,595. The firm has a market cap of $104.13 billion, a PE ratio of 46.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $290.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.74. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.17 and a 12-month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 278,326 shares of company stock worth $80,147,130 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Loop Capital cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.39.

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.