Covea Finance Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Covea Finance raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,900 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% in the third quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $162.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $167.77 and its 200-day moving average is $188.73. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.03, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.