Brick & Kyle Associates Has $5.56 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Brick & Kyle Associates raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 29.8% in Q3 to 27,301 shares valued at $5,559,000, making PANW 2.1% of the firm's portfolio and its 20th largest holding.
• Palo Alto Networks beat Q results with $1.03 EPS vs $0.94 and revenue of $2.59B (+14.9% YoY); analysts hold a "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target of $210.19 versus the recent share price near $167.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares (~$23.07M) and insiders disposed of 149,252 shares (~$27.9M) in the last quarter, leaving insiders with about 1.4% ownership.

Brick & Kyle Associates lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,301 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,266 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.1% of Brick & Kyle Associates' portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Brick & Kyle Associates' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Ceeto Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,222,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,222,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 2,171 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 11,537 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,349,000 after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,423,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Northland Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7%

PANW stock opened at $167.01 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The company has a market cap of $136.28 billion, a PE ratio of 92.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.50.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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