Westwood Wealth Management Purchases 13,668 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Westwood Wealth Management lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 99.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,346 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,668 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.8% of Westwood Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Westwood Wealth Management's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th 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. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock worth $165,384,602 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded down $4.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $168.81. 3,409,898 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,899,414. The stock has a market cap of $111.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.18 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm's 50 day moving average is $182.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.