Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Increased by CX Institutional

CX Institutional lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 176.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,558 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.5% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,105 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at $282,000. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.0% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $190.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.99 billion, a PE ratio of 120.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $194.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.25.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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 net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 261,248 shares of company stock valued at $53,316,149 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Mizuho set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.99.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.