Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Reduces Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Central Asset Investments cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 57.1% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 4,980 shares valued at about $917,000.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on PANW, with several firms reiterating buy/outperform ratings and a consensus price target of $212.09.
• Palo Alto Networks reported strong quarterly results, including $1.03 EPS versus $0.94 expected and revenue of $2.59 billion, while the stock was trading near its 52-week high after a recent gain.

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 57.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,980 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 6,637 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 0.6% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $205.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.09.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. The trade was a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $227.79 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $228.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.85, a PEG ratio of 7.77 and a beta of 0.77. The business's fifty day moving average price is $171.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.69.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

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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