Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $11.06 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,064 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,275 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $240.13 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.34. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $248.85. The company has a market capitalization of $195.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.67, a P/E/G ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $275 and kept a Buy rating, signaling confidence in continued upside for Palo Alto Networks. Truist raises PANW target
• Positive Sentiment: Oppenheimer lifted its target to $275 and reiterated an Outperform rating after noting encouraging signs from the company’s CyberArk-related product launch and customer feedback. Oppenheimer lifts PANW target
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho increased its target to $265 and maintained an Outperform rating, citing strength in subscriptions and possible upside to remaining performance obligations. Mizuho raises PANW target
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt also raised its target to $275 and kept a Buy rating, adding to the broad analyst optimism around the stock. Rosenblatt positive forecast
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Nikesh Arora said AI is expected to help engineers ship more features, not reduce headcount, suggesting the company sees AI as a growth driver rather than a cost-cutting story. Business Insider article
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider buying was highlighted as value-positive, but the item is more of a confidence signal than a clear near-term catalyst. Insider buying article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary noted the stock has rallied sharply and is technically overbought, which could make it vulnerable to volatility if upcoming earnings disappoint. Technical analysis article

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $168.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.49.

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.