Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 625,565 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 152.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,035,235 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 625,565 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $188,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 2,315 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 348 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 10,945 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 750 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of PANW opened at $205.19 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.11 and a 200 day moving average of $182.68. The company has a market cap of $134.65 billion, a PE ratio of 115.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.