Huntington National Bank Purchases 256,042 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 479,352 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 256,042 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank owned about 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $87,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management boosted 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 purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $171.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $187.01 and its 200 day moving average is $185.46. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

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

About Palo Alto Networks

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.