RIA Advisory Group LLC Buys Shares of 18,060 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,060 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,326,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.5% of RIA Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. GSG Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after purchasing an additional 113,534 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $277.71. 4,694,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,584,631. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $297.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.