Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Holdings Raised by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 76.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,440 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,319 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,014 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price target (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of PANW opened at $184.06 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460 in the last 90 days. Company 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.