Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,651 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $16,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $160.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $131.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.77, a PEG ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $162.85 and its 200 day moving average is $186.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. 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 note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.95.

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.