Congress Asset Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 546,067 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 11,047 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $100,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $277,828,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in 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 buying an additional 8,282 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $164.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.86 billion, a PE ratio of 90.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.50.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

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.