FORA Capital LLC Invests $2.10 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,095,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 5,741 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,631,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.3% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 497,100 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $141,077,000 after buying an additional 15,776 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.9% during the first quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 9,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,657,000 after purchasing an additional 4,267 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Money Management increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 192.3% during the first quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 15,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 33,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.8% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,444 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,252,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total value of $497,517.32. Following the sale, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,292,166.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $99,820.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,167,770. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,525 shares of company stock worth $93,982,207 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $2.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $335.48. The company had a trading volume of 696,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,708,264. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.65. The stock has a market cap of $108.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.41, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.17 and a 52-week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS 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.