Meeder Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 45.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 187 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after acquiring an additional 444,100 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth about $94,875,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $392.89 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $258.17 and a 1 year high of $408.53. The company has a market capitalization of $127.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.19, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $362.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $338.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $387.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.92.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total transaction of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.