Highland Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,334 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 24th. Tigress Financial began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, New Street Research upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.45 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.01. The company has a market capitalization of $131.35 billion, a PE ratio of 119.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 376,922 shares of company stock worth $77,963,339. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.