Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 250,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $50,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 69.0% during the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $769,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $77,675,777.46. This represents a 25.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Mizuho set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $180.18 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.59 billion, a PE ratio of 114.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.