Aspen Investment Management Inc Purchases Shares of 1,593 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Aspen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,593 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 39,943 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,147 shares during the period. Axecap Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $993,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $198.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.63 billion, a PE ratio of 112.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $187.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.04 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% 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.