Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 176.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,049 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 16,639 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 95.8% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 34,778 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $6,328,000 after buying an additional 17,019 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 84.5% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 359,365 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $65,390,000 after buying an additional 164,586 shares in the last quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 112.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 152,273 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,708,000 after purchasing an additional 80,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OPTIMAS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,147,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.10 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PANW. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. HSBC downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.