Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 195.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,032 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,035 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $11,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 85,578 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $15,571,000 after acquiring an additional 42,785 shares during the last quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $697,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,299,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,316,000. Finally, ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of PANW opened at $182.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.00.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.