Mizuho Markets Cayman LP Acquires New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,388,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after buying an additional 4,031 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 53,145 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 92.8% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 39,914 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,168,000 after acquiring an additional 19,213 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3%

PANW opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $169.55 and a 200-day moving average of $189.35. The stock has a market cap of $136.64 billion, a PE ratio of 92.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

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.