5,273 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Purchased by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,273 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,074,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $270,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 33.6% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 76,369 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $15,550,000 after purchasing an additional 19,206 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,390 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Planning Inc now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, G&S Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 3,261 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Stephens boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.99.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. This trade represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 261,248 shares of company stock valued at $53,316,149 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $189.02 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $193.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.15. The firm has a market cap of $131.75 billion, a PE ratio of 119.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.76.

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