BNP Paribas Raises Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 300,697 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,307 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.8% of BNP Paribas’ portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $61,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% in the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $167.01 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.50. The firm has a market cap of $136.28 billion, a PE ratio of 92.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total value of $23,070,311.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 298,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,096,383.61. This trade represents a 28.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 149,252 shares of company stock valued at $27,888,535 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. New Street Research lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.