Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,948 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,503 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Thirty-one investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $179.37 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $125.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.52.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction of $132,573.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,448 shares of company stock worth $53,168,301. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.