Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 567,753 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 50.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 560,561 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 567,753 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $114,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after acquiring an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $183.74 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.52 and its 200-day moving average is $194.80. The firm has a market cap of $128.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Thirty-one 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, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

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.