Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Acquires 7,080 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,080 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.2% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 17,733 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siren L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 91.7% in the first quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 11,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 376,922 shares of company stock worth $77,963,339. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $188.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $199.94 and its 200 day moving average is $197.01.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Tigress Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

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.