Aspen Investment Management Inc Takes $426,000 Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Aspen Investment Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,314 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after acquiring an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the third quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,077,000 after acquiring an additional 15,091 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,554,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $246.66 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $250.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $179.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.54. The company has a market cap of $201.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.28, a PEG ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Palo Alto Networks

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Palo Alto Networks to $270 from $200 and kept an outperform rating, signaling confidence that the stock can continue higher. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley increased its target to $253 from $223 and maintained an overweight rating, adding to the cluster of bullish analyst calls. MarketScreener
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus boosted its target to $275 from $185 and reiterated a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for further upside in PANW shares. The Fly
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial also raised its price target to $275 from $200 and kept a buy rating, indicating broad analyst enthusiasm for Palo Alto Networks’ growth outlook. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary about AI reshaping cybersecurity and articles highlighting PANW as a cybersecurity stock to watch support the long-term theme, but they do not appear to be immediate stock-moving catalysts. ETF Trends

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.16.

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.