Clough Capital Partners L P Lowers Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Clough Capital Partners L P cut its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 46.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,279 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 33,464 shares during the quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 138,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,438,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 74,453 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $15,236,000 after purchasing an additional 5,335 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $167.01 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $136.28 billion, a PE ratio of 92.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $169.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.50.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

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.