Wedbush Securities Inc. Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,382 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,703 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $165.30 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $183.56 and its 200 day moving average is $192.74. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $115.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.62, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the 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 owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $248.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.38.

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.