Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Boosted by Citizens & Northern Corp

Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 111.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,619 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,121 shares during the period. Citizens & Northern Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% in 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 during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,562,722 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $284,353,000 after buying an additional 796,964 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $191.45. 3,137,836 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,305,220. The company has a market cap of $126.76 billion, a PE ratio of 107.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company's fifty day moving average price is $187.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

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

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.