Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Has $3.37 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 4,390 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $675,865,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $633,068,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $340,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $230.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,864,398.95. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 376,922 shares of company stock valued at $77,963,339. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.45 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $199.94 and its 200 day moving average is $197.03. The company has a market capitalization of $131.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.