Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 46.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,848 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 43,089 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% during the third quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $1,554,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,466,400. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $260.58 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $261.41. The stock has a market cap of $212.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 143.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $185.14 and a 200-day moving average of $182.38.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.