Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Holdings Lifted by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas grew 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,390 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,888 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.9% of BNP Paribas’ portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $57,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $192.96 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $134.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.36 and a 200-day simple moving average 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The company’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $207.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Stephens upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Thirty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.