Bender Robert & Associates Purchases 9,498 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bender Robert & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 109.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,150 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,498 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.8% of Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $388,155,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $178.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.47 billion, a PE ratio of 100.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $185.78 and its 200 day moving average is $184.83.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities increased their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.