Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Cut by GC Wealth Management RIA LLC

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC cut its PANW position by 17.1%, selling 7,571 shares and leaving it with 36,621 shares valued at about $6.75 million as of the latest 13F filing.
• Insiders have been selling: EVP Dipak Golechha and Director James J. Goetz recently sold shares, and insiders sold 30,356 shares worth $4.98 million over the past three months (insiders own 1.40% of the stock).
• Palo Alto Networks recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.03 vs. $0.94) with revenue up 14.9% year‑over‑year, and analysts give a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $210.07.

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC lowered its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 36,621 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,571 shares during the period. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $136,859,000 after acquiring an additional 384,985 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,828,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 240.1% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,732 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments Management Co LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,077,000 after acquiring an additional 15,091 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $180.99 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.42. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $147.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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