Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 567,753 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 50.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 560,561 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 567,753 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $114,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.74 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.80. The stock has a market cap of $128.07 billion, a PE ratio of 116.29, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.