Rep. James Comer Buys Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares

Representative James Comer (R-Kentucky) recently bought shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW). In a filing disclosed on January 10th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Palo Alto Networks stock on January 2nd.

Representative James Comer also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Arista Networks (NYSE:ANET) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Dover (NYSE:DOV) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amphenol (NYSE:APH) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) on 1/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on 1/2/2025.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $170.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $190.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.04 and a 52 week high of $207.24.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. The trade was a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 867,734 shares of company stock worth $161,546,523 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Palo Alto Networks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,156,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% in the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after buying an additional 32,626 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $24,414,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $197.50 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.04.

About Representative Comer

James Comer Jr. (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District. He assumed office on November 14, 2016. His current term ends on January 3, 2025. Comer (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Kentucky’s 1st Congressional District. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022. Prior to serving in Congress, Comer was the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture from 2012 to 2016, and the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2001 to 2012. He also unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Kentucky in 2015. A writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal called Comer “instrumental in the final passage of a five-year farm bill,” noting that he served on the conference committee that produced the final version of the bill. Comer is from Tompkinsville, Ky. He acted as the director of South Central Bank for 12 years and has been the co-owner of the Comer Land and Cattle Company. He previously served as president of CFB Foods Incorporated from 2001 to 2003 and president of Comer and Polston Insurance Incorporated from 1993 to 1995.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.