Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Purchased by Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,870 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,876 shares during the period. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $190.85 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.89. The company has a market cap of $133.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.79, a PEG ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Northland Securities upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

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.