Candriam S.C.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,035,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 224,315 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.1% of Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.15% of Palo Alto Networks worth $210,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% during the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,531 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.9%

PANW opened at $159.32 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.05 billion, a PE ratio of 100.84, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $185.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.44.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued 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 target price of $229.09.

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.