Independent Advisor Alliance Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $176.97 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.60. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $123.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.01, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks 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.