Mizuho Markets Cayman LP Makes New $2.39 Million Investment in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,729 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,388,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after buying an additional 1,253,589 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,202,776,000 after buying an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $916,099,000 after buying an additional 54,601 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $822,079,000 after acquiring an additional 17,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 25.1% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,532,201 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $750,875,000 after acquiring an additional 708,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $167.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $136.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.51, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $223.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $169.55 and its 200 day moving average is $189.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

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.