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

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,505,894 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 75,779 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.36% of Palo Alto Networks worth $464,342,000 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. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,275 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.6% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 774,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 104,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 12.4% in the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $162.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $167.77 and a 200 day moving average of $188.72. The stock has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 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.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its 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. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PANW. UBS Group set a $183.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $57,096,383.61. This represents a 28.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.