Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires 13,319 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 191,466 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,319 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.4% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $35,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,846 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors now owns 8,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 19,188 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,381 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 36,241 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 23,958 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,413,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of PANW opened at $147.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $164.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.23, a PEG ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other 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 value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.