Huntington National Bank Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 479,352 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 256,042 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $87,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. Mosley Wealth Management increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This trade represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on PANW shares. Truist Financial cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays reduced 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $171.31 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company 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%. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.