CX Institutional Has $1.13 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 176.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,558 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $675,865,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $633,068,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,830 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $430,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,145 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $190.80 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $132.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 120.76, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.25.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $220.00 target price (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. New Street Research boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.99.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 261,248 shares of company stock valued at $53,316,149. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.