25,454 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Bought by Natural Investments LLC

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 25,454 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $4,631,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.3% of Natural Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $764,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $297,450,000 after buying an additional 848,127 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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $173.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $185.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.80. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

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Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given 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, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.

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