Hartline Investment Corp Sells 6,403 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Hartline Investment Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,496 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,403 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 0.9% of Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $187.66 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $191.35 and a 200-day moving average of $195.67. The company has a market cap of $130.80 billion, a PE ratio of 118.77, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.76.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Tigress Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

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.