M&T Bank Corp Grows Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 145,791 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,495 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $26,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% in the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $184.56 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.00. The company has a market cap of $150.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.97, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next?generation firewalls as a core on?premises capability, alongside cloud?delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.