Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Makes New $4.38 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Danica Pension opened a new position in Palo Alto Networks, buying 21,500 shares in Q3 valued at about $4.38 million.
• Insider selling has been significant: insiders sold 149,252 shares over the past 90 days (roughly $27.9 million), including EVP Lee Klarich's 120,768‑share sale (~$23.07M), leaving insider ownership at about 1.40%.
• Wall Street has a consensus Moderate Buy on PANW with an average price target of $210.19, and the company recently beat quarterly EPS ($1.03 vs. $0.94) while revenue rose 14.9% year‑over‑year.

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,500 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,378,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,742 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 155,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group set a $183.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Argus upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started 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 target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $169.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $138.06 billion, a PE ratio of 93.48, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $169.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61.

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

About Palo Alto Networks

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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