Mirova Buys 9,287 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mirova grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,935 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,287 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.1% of Mirova’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Mirova’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. New Street Research cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.2%

PANW stock opened at $168.91 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $168.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.06. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.32, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.