Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,928 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,182 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of PANW opened at $162.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $132.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $167.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.70.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.