Morningstar Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 81.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,572 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 37,507 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $162,161,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $151,682,000. 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 valued at $750,875,000 after purchasing an additional 708,332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $260.58 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $185.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $261.41. The company has a market cap of $212.63 billion, a PE ratio of 143.97, a P/E/G ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total transaction of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. The trade was a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,756 shares of company stock worth $5,076,355. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.