Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,759 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,405 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,731,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $7.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,137,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,305,220. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.95. The stock has a market cap of $126.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.93, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 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.