Hancock Whitney Corp Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 102.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,307 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,987 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 0.9% of Hancock Whitney Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PANW. Scotiabank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $168.32 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.81 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.64. The company has a market capitalization of $111.44 billion, a PE ratio of 94.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.