Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Raised by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 112.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,273 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,443 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,147,000. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,458,000. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.2% during the 4th quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,651,964 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $300,591,000 after purchasing an additional 801,174 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 118.3% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 6,060 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 16,908 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,077,000 after purchasing an additional 8,633 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $185.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.74 and a 200-day moving average of $184.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.