Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Position Raised by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Key Points

• Franklin Street Advisors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% to 143,715 shares (worth about $26.47M), and the stock is heavily institutionally owned (approximately 79.8%).
• Insider activity was mixed: Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares while CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares for roughly $10M, increasing his ownership to 343,394 shares.
• Analysts have trimmed price targets (several cuts from ~$240 to ~$220–224) but maintain mostly Buy ratings with a consensus target of $209.95, and Palo Alto recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.03 vs. $0.94) with revenue up 14.9% to $2.59B.

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 143,715 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,534 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.5% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $26,472,000 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 company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in 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 raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in 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 raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in 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, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $822,079,000 after acquiring an additional 17,394 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,784 shares of company stock worth $4,709,116. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.95.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.3%

PANW opened at $173.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $161.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.23. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current 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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