Mirova Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mirova grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 30.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,935 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,287 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.1% of Mirova’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Mirova’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $168.91 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $168.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.06. The company has a market cap of $137.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.32, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.