CIBC Asset Management Inc Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 282,197 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $57,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after acquiring an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,718 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the second quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $180.18 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.04. The stock has a market cap of $125.59 billion, a PE ratio of 114.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.