Procyon Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 35.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,684 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,190 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Arete Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned 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 an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $162.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a PE ratio of 90.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.72.

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

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.