Ethic Inc. Has $13.34 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,443 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,564 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 5.8%

PANW stock opened at $207.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $169.63 billion, a PE ratio of 114.85, a P/E/G ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $166.05 and a 200-day moving average of $180.61. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 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 business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Benchmark began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.64.

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.