Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Increased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 104.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Palo Alto Networks worth $11,142,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zega Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % 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 worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $182.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.71 billion, a PE ratio of 102.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $186.59 and a 200-day moving average of $185.05. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.