Danske Bank A S Has $143.44 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Danske Bank A/S raised its Q4 stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% to 778,701 shares, worth about $143.44 million (roughly 0.11% of the company).
• CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares on March 27 for about $10.0 million, increasing his holding to 343,394 shares (a 24.73% rise).
• Palo Alto Networks carries a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” with a target of $210.07, while the stock trades near $179 and the company has a market cap of about $146.3 billion.

Danske Bank A S increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 778,701 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,772 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S owned about 0.11% of Palo Alto Networks worth $143,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after acquiring an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $802,691,000 after acquiring an additional 319,751 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $179.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $146.33 billion, a PE ratio of 99.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company's 50-day moving average price is $163.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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