Trust Co. of Vermont Has $34.13 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,267 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,909 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.4% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $34,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. now owns 35,012 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 72,894 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,427,000 after purchasing an additional 4,360 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,976 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,890,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 90,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $16,587,000 after buying an additional 7,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 33,750 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,217,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $160.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.77, a PEG ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $162.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.54.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. 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.