Ceeto Capital Group LLC Invests $1.22 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Ceeto Capital Group LLC established a new position in Palo Alto Networks in Q3, purchasing 6,000 shares valued at about $1.22 million.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently — EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares (~$940,900) and insiders have sold 149,252 shares (~$27.9M) in the last 90 days, leaving insiders with 1.40% ownership.
• Palo Alto beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.03 vs. $0.94 and revenue of $2.59B (up 14.9% YoY); the company has a $136.3B market cap and a consensus analyst price target of $210.19 (average rating: Moderate Buy).

Ceeto Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 6,000 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,222,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $167.01 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $169.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.50. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $136.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Mizuho set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, New Street Research lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.19.

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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