Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Holdings Increased by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 74.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 178,420 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,253 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Edge Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.0% during the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 6,018 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 3,039 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 65,884 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,988,000 after buying an additional 33,561 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 21,153 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,849,000 after purchasing an additional 12,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 22,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after purchasing an additional 11,072 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. OTR Global reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $191.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.70. The company has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a PE ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.