CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong Takes $9.88 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 33,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,878,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 0.9% of CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 61.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 55 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1,071.4% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 82 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Loop Capital cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.46.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,165,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,619,972. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $300.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.61 billion, a PE ratio of 43.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $176.30 and a 12 month high of $380.84.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.