Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Lowered by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 0.9% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the 3rd 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. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 48.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 26,404 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,502,000 after buying an additional 8,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.79.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $374.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,449,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,382,185. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $348.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.67. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $122.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.