Global Retirement Partners LLC Has $5.35 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 54.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,269 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,238 shares during the quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $179.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $125.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.76. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.52.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 260,448 shares of company stock worth $53,168,301. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.