Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Purchases 654 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 769.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 739 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4 %

PANW stock opened at $186.27 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $123.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.94, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.