Sanctuary Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.7%, buying an additional 12,240 shares to hold 194,056 shares worth about $35.7 million at quarter-end.
• Large institutions dominate ownership—Vanguard, State Street and others hold major positions—and about 79.82% of PANW shares are owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently, disposing of 30,356 shares valued at roughly $4.98 million over the last 90 days, including sales by a director and an EVP.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,056 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 12,240 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $35,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 611,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $822,079,000 after purchasing an additional 17,394 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This represents a 3.22% 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. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $178.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.69 billion, a PE ratio of 98.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $161.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%.Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on 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 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.07.

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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