Orion Investment Co Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Orion Investment Co grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 108.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,067 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,682 shares during the period. Orion Investment Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,732 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $5,377,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 144,598 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $49,424,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 437 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded down $11.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $153.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,982,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,870,661. The company's fifty day moving average price is $185.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.22. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.83 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $101.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,114,786 shares of company stock valued at $200,426,637 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.