Forsta AP Fonden Purchases 6,900 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 100,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $34,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.4% during the third quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 231,566 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,149,000 after purchasing an additional 32,626 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,814,881 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $799,792,000 after acquiring an additional 198,078 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,377 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 196,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $67,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 2,695 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $376.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $366.44. 1,347,173 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,983,600. The company has a market capitalization of $119.31 billion, a PE ratio of 50.54, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $233.81 and a 52-week high of $384.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $351.26 and its 200-day moving average is $325.45.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.41, for a total transaction of $64,682.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,782 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,746.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total transaction of $11,439,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 351,452 shares of company stock valued at $118,643,279. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.