Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stake Lifted by Alpha Cubed Investments LLC

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 554,585 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,975 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 3.9% of Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $112,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position 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 valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $457,279,000 after buying an additional 163,718 shares during the period. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $176.20 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $187.34 and a 200 day moving average of $194.67. The stock has a market cap of $122.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders 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 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.