First American Bank Acquires 31,063 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

First American Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 101.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,770 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,063 shares during the period. First American Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.1 %

PANW stock opened at $187.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.63, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted 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 company 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, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

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.