S&CO Inc. Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

S&CO Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,304 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,152 shares during the period. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $12,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Davis R M Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 716,081 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $130,298,000 after acquiring an additional 348,297 shares during the period. Clare Market Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,079,000. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.5% during the 4th quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,102 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $564,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 131.6% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 264 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 95.2% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 43,316 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,882,000 after acquiring an additional 21,127 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $173.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $185.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.80. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $115.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of 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, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

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.