Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Buys 4,390 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 36.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,390 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $188.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.27, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $199.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.03.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 376,922 shares of company stock valued at $77,963,339. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Northland Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (down previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.20.

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.