Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 49,632 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH decreased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 976,558 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 49,632 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $198,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 24th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock worth $76,386,460. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $184.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $128.29 billion, a PE ratio of 116.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.44. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61.

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 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 quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.