Park National Corp OH Acquires 22,919 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Park National Corp OH lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,583 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,919 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.2% of Park National Corp OH’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $38,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% in the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.5%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $169.74 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.93. The company has a market cap of $138.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

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.