Norinchukin Bank The Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Norinchukin Bank The boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 125.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,426 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 20,797 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $22,127,000 after buying an additional 5,133 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,754,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $167.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.60 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.