CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Has $180.94 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 42.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,046,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 314,302 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $180,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IPG Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,708 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after buying an additional 4,452 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,087,682 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $197,915,000 after purchasing an additional 535,124 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 342 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.6% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 19,766 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,597,000 after purchasing an additional 9,913 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 105.8% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 64,108 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,665,000 after purchasing an additional 32,950 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $187.39 and its 200-day moving average is $185.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a PE ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for 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 fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on PANW. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is 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.