Mirova Acquires 10,884 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mirova lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 107.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,034 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,884 shares during the period. Mirova's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,737 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $22,127,000 after buying an additional 5,133 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 2,606 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,528 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,915,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 16,836 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,754,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $167.69 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.60 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $180.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.