Navalign LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Navalign LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 71.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the period. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $181.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.12, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $178.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.