Mirova US LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Mirova US LLC cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,717,294 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 65,280 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 3.5% of Mirova US LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Mirova US LLC owned 0.26% of Palo Alto Networks worth $349,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 32,155 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,547,000 after purchasing an additional 7,301 shares in the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,234,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $457,279,000 after acquiring an additional 163,718 shares in the last quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.2% during the 2nd quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4,524.0% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 547,944 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $112,131,000 after acquiring an additional 536,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.91, for a total value of $23,177,738.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 327,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,878,351.95. This represents a 26.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 381,922 shares of company stock worth $78,904,239 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, New Street Research upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Thirty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.20.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $186.85 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $130.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.