Hancock Whitney Corp Has $25.22 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 26.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,389 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 15,536 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.9% of Hancock Whitney Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth about $336,000. InterOcean Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 1,331 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 5,557 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,916. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $340.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $110.13 billion, a PE ratio of 49.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $336.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $313.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $224.64 and a 1-year high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share 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.