Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

MFG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,790 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.7% of MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $204.30 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $189.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.33. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.74, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PANW. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

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.