Semus Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 1,882 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,882 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $706,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.5% in the fourth quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,658 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $709,000. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.6% during the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 1,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 110.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 813,592 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $148,041,000 after buying an additional 426,396 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $208.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $186.84 and a 200 day moving average of $182.29. The firm has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm 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, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

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.