Flputnam Investment Management Co. Buys 122,277 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 297.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,330 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,277 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $29,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in 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 3rd quarter worth $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $3,844,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $190.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.29, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $186.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 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.