Simmons Bank Acquires 3,742 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Simmons Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,714 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,742 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. UBS Group set a $215.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 24th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $175.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.46. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.