Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 205,618 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

by · The Markets Daily

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW – Free Report) by 1,163.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,298 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205,618 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $76,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 833.3% in the first quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 112 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $364.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.82.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on PANW

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $5.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $363.49. 691,064 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,992,550. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $233.81 and a one year high of $384.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $350.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.17.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total value of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,746.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

(Free Report)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.

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