Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 54,269 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,222,845 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,269 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $225,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $502,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $162,161,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $151,682,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,532,201 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $750,875,000 after purchasing an additional 708,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $183.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $150.13 billion, a PE ratio of 101.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.84.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.