Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 70,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 10,627 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after buying an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 261,248 shares of company stock valued at $53,316,149. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $185.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.30. The company has a market cap of $129.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

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

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.