Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 191,466 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,319 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.4% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $35,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $147.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

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

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’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 value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.