Hancock Whitney Corp Has $27.35 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 102.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,307 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 75,987 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.9% of Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,010,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067,838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $178.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,534,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,818,682. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.00 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $118.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $176.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.