Night Squared LP Acquires New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Night Squared LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,042 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,081,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $167.01 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.47. The firm has a market cap of $136.28 billion, a PE ratio of 92.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.