Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Purchases 1,635 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 83.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,603 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PANW. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities raised their price objective on 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. Loop Capital dropped 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW traded down $2.07 on Friday, hitting $167.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,768,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,880,201. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $180.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.60 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.