ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Purchases 670 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,227 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,572,098 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,118,190,000 after buying an additional 1,002,239 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth about $177,933,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 444,100.0% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 444,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $150,520,000 after buying an additional 444,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth about $94,875,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $421.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $334.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.87.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $6.47 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $404.49. 549,945 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,857,142. The stock has a market cap of $131.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $234.15 and a one year high of $406.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $356.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $334.54.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total transaction of $30,022,832.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % 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, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.