Wedbush Securities Inc. Purchases 12,703 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,382 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,703 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,100,311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,093,262,000 after purchasing an additional 169,055 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $675,865,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $165.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.62, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.74. 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 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% 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 worth $49,910,995 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Thirty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.38.

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.