abrdn plc Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 66.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 138,626 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,405 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $40,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Pacific Financial raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $277.71 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The stock has a market cap of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $295.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.