King Luther Capital Management Corp Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 818,841 shares valued at about $150.8 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions, and hedge funds and institutions own 79.82% of Palo Alto Networks’ stock overall.
• Analysts remain constructive on PANW: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a consensus target price of $229.16, while shares recently traded near $256.75.

King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 818,841 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,130 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.12% of Palo Alto Networks worth $150,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $713,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11,100.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 560 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $900,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $256.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.69. The company has a market capitalization of $209.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.85, a PEG ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $261.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. New Street Research decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $183.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $229.16.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 150,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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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