Twin Capital Management Inc. Invests $1.19 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Twin Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,850 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,191,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 10,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 10,091 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $457,279,000 after purchasing an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richmond Investment Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $159.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.48. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.