Truist Financial Corp Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 769,553 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 95,786 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.12% of Palo Alto Networks worth $131,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the first quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 18,983 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,239,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the first quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock traded up $4.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.50. 2,561,725 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,403,583. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $193.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.42. The company has a market cap of $134.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 668,722 shares of company stock worth $121,714,798 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.