Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 55,278 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,762 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,830 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,689,000 after buying an additional 377,496 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $675,865,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $166.00 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.20. The company has a market cap of $115.70 billion, a PE ratio of 105.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.32.

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.