Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC Has $55,000 Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trust Investment Advisors grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 99.4% during the fourth quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 14,621 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 7,288 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $505,000. Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 21,362 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,887,000 after purchasing an additional 8,818 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 396,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $72,124,000 after purchasing an additional 198,155 shares during the period. Finally, Aire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.0% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 2,781 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $189.95 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.31 and a 200-day moving average of $185.38. The company has a market capitalization of $125.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly 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 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.