Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New $76,000 Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 416 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 121.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 65,951 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $12,000,000 after acquiring an additional 36,135 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.1% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 56,084 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,205,000 after acquiring an additional 28,327 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 107.1% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nelson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.6 %

PANW opened at $190.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $186.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.29, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.