Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by PFC Capital Group Inc.

PFC Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 113.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,440 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.1% of PFC Capital Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. PFC Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $868,890,000 after buying an additional 2,220,130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.25.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $187.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.48. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.14, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.