Stevens Capital Management LP Buys 417 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after buying an additional 113,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after buying an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Capital One Financial lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $2.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $291.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,243,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,423,287. The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $289.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the transaction, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.