Night Squared LP Takes $4.08 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Night Squared LP bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 20,042 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,081,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $822,079,000 after purchasing an additional 17,394 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $167.01 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $169.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.47. The stock has a market cap 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. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

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.