Prudential PLC Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 104,749 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 19,456 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $21,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $558,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% during the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% during the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, 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 value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $167.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.47. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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.