Holocene Advisors LP Purchases Shares of 415,570 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 415,570 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,618,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.55 and a 200 day moving average of $189.35. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $136.64 billion, a PE ratio of 92.51, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.