MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 88.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 750,702 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 352,753 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Palo Alto Networks worth $136,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of PANW opened at $186.93 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.78. The stock has a market cap of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.31, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

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