Mairs & Power Inc. Purchases 70,311 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Mairs & Power raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 171.8%, buying 70,311 shares in Q3 to own 111,242 shares valued at about $22.65 million.
• Palo Alto beat quarterly estimates with $1.03 EPS vs. $0.94 expected and $2.59 billion in revenue (up 14.9% YoY); the stock trades at a P/E of ~92.5 and a market cap near $136.6 billion.
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $210.19, though firms including Goldman Sachs and Susquehanna recently trimmed their price targets.

Mairs & Power Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 171.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 111,242 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,311 shares during the period. Mairs & Power Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $916,099,000 after acquiring an additional 54,601 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $822,079,000 after purchasing an additional 17,394 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,532,201 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $750,875,000 after acquiring an additional 708,332 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $136.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

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