Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,064 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 14,830 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $50,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $924,905,000 after buying an additional 30,013 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $799,792,000 after buying an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after buying an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total transaction of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total transaction of $42,165,110.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317 in the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PANW. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $375.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.59.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.2 %

PANW stock traded up $7.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $330.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,227,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,640,945. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.14 billion, a PE ratio of 48.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $319.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $310.96. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.17 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.