Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Holdings Lifted by GoalVest Advisory LLC

GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1,248.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,091 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second 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 during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 260,448 shares of company stock valued at $53,168,301 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $179.37 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $196.95 and a 200-day moving average of $196.52. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $125.02 billion, a PE ratio of 113.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.