Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC Has $3.80 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 108.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,898 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,868 shares during the quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $178.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $118.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.00 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

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 analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % 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 the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities increased 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.06.

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.