Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys 1,651 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 215.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,416 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.2% in the 4th quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 133,890 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $24,362,000 after buying an additional 69,153 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 60,312 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,974,000 after buying an additional 29,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 157,527 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,664,000 after acquiring an additional 74,299 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $184.79 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $186.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BTIG Research cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.