Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 1,730 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,511,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,215,410,000 after purchasing an additional 304,272 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,430,299 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $804,199,000 after buying an additional 86,995 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,662,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $389,832,000 after acquiring an additional 36,859 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.89 on Friday, hitting $296.21. 3,438,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,429,938. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.09 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.28, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $285.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.25.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total value of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,434,232.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,917 shares of company stock worth $44,335,843 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.