Cim Investment Management Inc. Buys 5,158 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 99.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,330 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,158 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $191.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $204.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.51. The firm has a market cap of $133.61 billion, a PE ratio of 121.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total value of $1,020,950.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.