Beck Capital Management LLC Acquires 20,317 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Beck Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 99.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,701 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 20,317 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 2.0% of Beck Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Beck Capital Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of PANW opened at $176.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $116.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $177.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.69. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.81 and a 12 month 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.