Stableford Capital II LLC Invests $835,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Stableford Capital II LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,531 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% in the third quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $156.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.59 billion, a PE ratio of 86.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $165.22 and a 200 day moving average of $187.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.