Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 38,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 6,559 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% during the third quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 30.17% 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 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $147.02 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a PE ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.