Banco Santander S.A. Buys 5,815 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 22.9%, acquiring an additional 5,815 shares, bringing its total to 31,222 shares valued at $5,328,000.
• Insider transactions included CAO Josh D. Paul selling 800 shares and EVP Nir Zuk selling 100,000 shares, indicating potential shifts in management confidence.
• Palo Alto Networks recently reported earnings of $0.80 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, while its stock has a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $209.61.

Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 22.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,222 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,815 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $1.88 on Monday, hitting $171.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,170,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,542,559. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The company has a market capitalization of $114.02 billion, a PE ratio of 97.71, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.66, for a total transaction of $19,866,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,243,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,356,888.56. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This trade represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 448,474 shares of company stock worth $88,420,934. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.61.

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.