Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Boosted by Pegasus Asset Management Inc.

Pegasus Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,077 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,923 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.3% of Pegasus Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Pegasus Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $176.20 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.67. The firm has a market cap of $122.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.52, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 382,016 shares of company stock valued at $76,386,460 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.