Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC Makes New Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,832 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $231,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $183,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $4.99 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.96. 3,408,858 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,725,357. The company has a market cap of $122.46 billion, a PE ratio of 104.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.06.

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.