PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $50.79 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 249,413 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,562 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $50,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 10,091 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $457,279,000 after buying an additional 163,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were 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. This represents 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 the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.97.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $166.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $116.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.28.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm 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%.The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Analysts forecast 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.