Schroder Investment Management Group Buys 163,718 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 163,718 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.34% of Palo Alto Networks worth $457,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 87,031 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 176,521 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,123,000 after buying an additional 24,914 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,584,000. Colonial Trust Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 107,913 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $22,083,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at about $675,865,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 96,135 shares in the company, valued at $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,215,130 shares of company stock valued at $249,031,488 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (up previously from $225.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $236.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, New Street Research upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

PANW stock opened at $190.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $132.65 billion, a PE ratio of 120.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $207.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.21.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.