Pinebridge Investments L.P. Acquires 78,136 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 37.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 287,623 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 78,136 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $52,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.94 on Friday, hitting $178.98. 3,534,449 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,823,934. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.00 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.72. The company has a market cap of $118.50 billion, a PE ratio of 100.83, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

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.