Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Purchases 14,670 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,639 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,670 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $405,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 32,756 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 234,335 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $47,715,000 after purchasing an additional 40,241 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the third quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 5,718 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.5% in the third quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $187.66 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $191.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Tigress Financial initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Stephens boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.09.

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.