Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 61,639 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,541 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective (up from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $184.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.58, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $197.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 381,222 shares of company stock valued at $78,762,727. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.