Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY Takes Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 13,188 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,370,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.1% during the second quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 334,536 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $85,816,000 after purchasing an additional 53,684 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 296,804 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $75,836,000 after buying an additional 44,400 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 54.2% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 19,359 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,946,000 after buying an additional 6,805 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 179.9% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 21,567 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $5,511,000 after acquiring an additional 13,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nelson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.69% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 2,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.01, for a total transaction of $499,820.40. Following the transaction, the president now owns 37,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,151,613.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 2,040 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.01, for a total transaction of $499,820.40. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 37,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,151,613.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.75, for a total transaction of $170,696.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,017. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,890 shares of company stock valued at $42,637,820. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 5.2 %

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $260.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $80.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.22 and a twelve month high of $265.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $244.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 48.58%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.58.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.