Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Increased by Hardy Reed LLC

Hardy Reed LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,208 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,104 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,731,000 after buying an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $205.19 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.68. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $135.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.