Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 75,779 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,505,894 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 75,779 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $464,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $675,865,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $502,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $162,161,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.0%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $162.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a PE ratio of 90.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $167.77 and a 200-day moving average of $188.72.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays set a $200.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total transaction of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.