Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 965,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 18,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of Palo Alto Networks worth $284,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. GSG Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,497,000 after purchasing an additional 113,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after buying an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total transaction of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,295,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $373,434,232.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

PANW traded up $0.89 on Friday, hitting $296.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,436,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,292,921. The firm has a market cap of $95.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.28, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $285.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.01. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.09 and a 1 year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

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.