Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $5.32 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 29,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,316,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.4 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $182.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.79. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

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.