DAVENPORT & Co LLC Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 540,158 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,386 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $110,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $131.12 billion, a PE ratio of 119.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total transaction of $25,594,426.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 149,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,616,344.80. This represents a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 376,922 shares of company stock worth $77,963,339. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.