31,505 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Acquired by Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC

Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 31,505 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,733,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 3.8% of Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $868,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $173.18 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $186.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.38. The stock has a market cap of $114.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.