Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Purchases 3,456 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 755,367 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,456 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Palo Alto Networks worth $222,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. RB Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 602 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Morgens Waterfall Vintiadis & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $6,910,000. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 2,822 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,757,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth $1,022,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $279.07 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $90.17 billion, a PE ratio of 43.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $303.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.73.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John Donovan sold 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total transaction of $2,673,324.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,017,374.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Donovan sold 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $2,673,324.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,017,374.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 176,017 shares of company stock valued at $52,068,877. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. Loop Capital cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Northland Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Capital One Financial lowered Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.