Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Has $88.82 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 302,461 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 10,760 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 4.7% of Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $88,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,047,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,627 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 2,078 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 226,900 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $66,908,000 after purchasing an additional 37,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 29,830 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,796,000 after purchasing an additional 2,342 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $291.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,246,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $176.30 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

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.