MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $4.23 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 20,760 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,227,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up 0.9% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 381,222 shares of company stock worth $78,762,727. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $186.85 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.26, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $198.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Tigress Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.