World Investment Advisors Purchases 11,175 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 131.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,703 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,175 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 269.1% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 14,770 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,688,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 2,733 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $235,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 119.5% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,114,786 shares of company stock worth $200,426,637. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of PANW traded down $11.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $153.57. 8,982,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,870,661. The business has a 50-day moving average of $185.60 and a 200 day moving average of $185.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.83 and a one year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.52, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share for the current year.

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.