Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,904,094 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 341,372 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.29% of Palo Alto Networks worth $324,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.2% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,387 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 36.3% in the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.6% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 4,415 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 21.3% in the first quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 795,536 shares of company stock worth $141,007,618 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $200.57. The company had a trading volume of 5,339,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,395,844. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $133.74 billion, a PE ratio of 117.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $190.70 and a 200-day moving average of $185.33.

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

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.