Scientech Research LLC Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,990 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,370,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 0.5% of Scientech Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 1,479 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. First County Bank CT lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 3,537 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the second quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 2,704 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.5 %

PANW opened at $338.73 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $337.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $228.32 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $109.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.54, for a total transaction of $22,436,448.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,228 shares in the company, valued at $233,635,491.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.