Van ECK Associates Corp Has $3.47 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 79.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,781 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 44,323 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GSG Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 46.4% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 4,178 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 189,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $44,497,000 after purchasing an additional 113,534 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 137,104 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,143,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.5 %

PANW opened at $300.57 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.75 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.