Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 39,144 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,239 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 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 analysts have commented on PANW shares. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total transaction of $17,755,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 315,252 shares of company stock valued at $107,138,877 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $362.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $118.08 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $352.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $329.01. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $233.81 and a 12-month high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

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.