Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 54.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,665 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,781 shares during the quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Roanoke Asset Management Corp NY now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 115.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 43,985 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,004,000 after purchasing an additional 23,586 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,050 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 4,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $199.78 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $186.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.26. The firm has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a PE ratio of 114.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

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.