Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $1.76 Million in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,663 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,758,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $192.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.90. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.17, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.