Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC Purchases 3,145 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 93.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,516 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,145 shares during the quarter. Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 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 three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Scotiabank raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.03. 5,451,305 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,377,549. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $187.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a PE ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.