Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 13,900 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,396 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 13,900 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.2% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $39,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.1% in the second quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,014 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total transaction of $26,321,485.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 356,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9%

PANW opened at $184.06 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $128.29 billion, a PE ratio of 116.49, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $190.09 and a 200-day moving average of $195.44.

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