Bender Robert & Associates Acquires 970 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bender Robert & Associates lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,952 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.6% of Bender Robert & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RB Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $6,910,000. United Bank increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 2,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $1,022,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $350.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $281.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,849,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,596,411. The business’s fifty day moving average is $299.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.18. The stock has a market cap of $90.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.04, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.