Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,697 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,307 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.8% of BNP Paribas’ holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $61,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $15,362,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 30.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 239,007 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $48,667,000 after purchasing an additional 55,178 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 51.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 712,194 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $145,017,000 after buying an additional 240,851 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $888,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096,542 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $426,898,000 after buying an additional 143,893 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $167.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $136.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.27, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $169.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.50.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.