CFM Wealth Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,045 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,631 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.3% of CFM Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. CFM Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after buying an additional 1,240,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $184.22 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $188.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.91. The company has a market cap of $128.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,675,777.46. This represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.