BNP Paribas Acquires 11,888 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

BNP Paribas boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,390 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,888 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 1.9% of BNP Paribas’ holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $57,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total transaction of $23,177,738.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,878,351.95. This trade represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PANW. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Tigress Financial assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, September 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $248.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $192.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.