Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,128,314 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,134 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.17% of Palo Alto Networks worth $230,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at $810,047,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth about $675,865,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $633,068,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $662,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,688,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $340,883,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $198.84 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $205.98 and a 200 day moving average of $197.25. The company has a market capitalization of $138.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.85, a PEG ratio of 4.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock worth $249,260,680 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.