Segment Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Segment Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,128 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,313,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after acquiring an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $822,079,000 after acquiring an additional 17,394 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.07.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $178.54 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.30. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.69 billion, a PE ratio of 98.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.77.

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, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.