Prudential PLC Buys 19,456 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Prudential PLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,749 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,456 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $21,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $167.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $136.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.27, a PEG ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions 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 transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’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 value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.