Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 340,209 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 32,370 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $62,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the third quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. PTM Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the third quarter. PTM Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.8% in the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $180.99 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $162.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Palo Alto Networks 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.