Griffin Asset Management Inc. Buys New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% during the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $188.45 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.94 and its 200 day moving average is $197.01. The company has a market capitalization of $131.35 billion, a PE ratio of 119.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.47 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.92, for a total value of $25,594,426.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 149,190 shares in the company, valued at $31,616,344.80. The trade was a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total transaction 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 approximately $8,864,398.95. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 376,922 shares of company stock worth $77,963,339 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

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.