Magnus Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Magnus Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,869 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Pacific Financial increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the third quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $291.42. 2,246,512 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,487,617. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $287.61 and a 200 day moving average of $292.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 26th. Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.