AMI Asset Management Corp Sells 5,016 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

AMI Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 192,938 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 5,016 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 2.0% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $35,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Third View Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $493,000. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 7,870 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,450,000 after buying an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,777 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Guys Formula LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 9,856 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,815,000 after buying an additional 3,734 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $162.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $132.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.80, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.