Bailard Inc. Lowers Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Bailard Inc. lessened its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 106,025 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,415 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings 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. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.8%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $213.66 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.57. The company has a market cap of $174.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.04, a P/E/G ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.