Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Purchases 22,024 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Swiss Life Asset Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 22,024 more shares and bringing its total holding to 250,135 shares valued at about $46.1 million.
• Institutional interest in PANW remains strong overall, with hedge funds and asset managers holding 79.82% of the stock. Vanguard, Victory Capital, Amundi, and others also added to their positions recently.
• Analysts remain largely bullish but have trimmed some targets: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $211.64, while Palo Alto Networks recently beat earnings expectations with $1.03 EPS on $2.59 billion in revenue.

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,135 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 22,024 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $46,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after buying an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $502,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $162,161,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $151,682,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 25.1% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,532,201 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $750,875,000 after purchasing an additional 708,332 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, BTIG Research increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.64.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

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 transaction of $272,459.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $207.88 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $166.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.61. The company has a market capitalization of $169.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.85, a PEG ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 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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