M.D. Sass LLC Has $7.38 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

M.D. Sass LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,228 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 8,516 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.6% of M.D. Sass LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds 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 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Thirty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $154.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $107.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.