Covea Finance Purchases 9,665 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Covea Finance boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 166,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,665 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 1.2% of Covea Finance’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $33,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.6%

PANW opened at $186.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $200.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $130.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for 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 was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 376,922 shares of company stock valued at $77,963,339. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

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.