Thematics Asset Management Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Thematics Asset Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 10.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 112,364 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,254 shares during the period. Thematics Asset Management’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7%

PANW opened at $167.01 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a market cap of $136.28 billion, a PE ratio of 92.27, a PEG ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $169.84 and a 200-day moving average of $189.47.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.