Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,800 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 40,173 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,731,000 after acquiring an additional 5,250 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $191.03 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $187.20 and its 200-day moving average is $182.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.69.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.