Swiss National Bank Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Palo Alto Networks worth $328,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $757,321,000 after acquiring an additional 114,742 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $339,183,000 after purchasing an additional 73,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirova US LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.1% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 843,447 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $285,937,000 after purchasing an additional 17,060 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. This represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $384.76.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $387.00. 2,204,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,931,820. The firm has a market cap of $126.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $359.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $336.73. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $234.15 and a twelve month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

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.