Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 163.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 950 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.0% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 233 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 1,519 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,061 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $11.81 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $293.49. 4,060,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,531,698. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.84. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $176.30 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $315.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

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.