Mirova US LLC Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mirova US LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,651,964 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 801,174 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 3.6% of Mirova US LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Mirova US LLC owned about 0.25% of Palo Alto Networks worth $300,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 6,060 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,077,000 after purchasing an additional 8,633 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 89,621 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $16,307,000 after purchasing an additional 44,186 shares during the last quarter. Freemont Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 14,200 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,584,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.8% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,590 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $185.00 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.23, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $185.74 and a 200 day moving average of $184.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.