Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Purchased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 170,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 5,170 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in 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 boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after purchasing an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $802,691,000 after purchasing an additional 319,751 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.95, for a total transaction of $94,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 82,736 shares in the company, valued at $19,604,295.20. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the company’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 sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $256.75 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $261.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.51 billion, a PE ratio of 141.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Arete Research upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.16.

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.