Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Has $568,000 Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 60.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,085 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,650 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $163.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $133.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $162.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.