Swedbank AB Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Swedbank AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,392,224 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 560,540 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $487,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $188.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $201.09 and its 200 day moving average is $197.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. The trade was a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This trade represents a 14.26% 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. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.