Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Has $27.30 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 96.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,017 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,490 shares during the period. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,113,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,005,161 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $685,364,000 after acquiring an additional 31,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $7.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $191.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,137,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,305,220. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares in the company, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.70.

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.