Mather Group LLC. Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,759 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Webster Bank N. A. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,917 shares of company stock valued at $33,959,203 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $287.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $92.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.90, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $285.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.00. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 predict 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 equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.