Horizon Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Horizon Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,432 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 5,918 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.07.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $181.10 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $147.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.05, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $163.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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.