Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Westwood Wealth Management

Westwood Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,056 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 11,290 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.1% of Westwood Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Westwood Wealth Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $189.02 on Monday. 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 fifty day moving average is $193.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.63, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.76.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 261,248 shares of company stock worth $53,316,149 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson set a $240.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Tigress Financial initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.99.

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.