Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 341,372 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 21.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,904,094 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 341,372 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Palo Alto Networks worth $324,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $200.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $133.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $190.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.42. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.