Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC Takes $5.05 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 24,793 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,048,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $185.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $129.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.58. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. New Street Research raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total transaction of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.