Fortis Group Advisors LLC Acquires 1,414 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 101.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,806 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at $253,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 222.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,949 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,200 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded down $7.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $191.45. 3,137,836 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,305,220. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $126.76 billion, a PE ratio of 107.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $187.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.95.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last ninety days. Company 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.