Avity Investment Management Inc. Purchases 8,429 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Avity Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 190,120 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,429 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.7% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $38,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 53,145 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,565 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $169.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.06 billion, a PE ratio of 93.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.