Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 104.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.33% of Palo Alto Networks worth $11,142,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,226 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 105.7% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,166 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 124.9% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 7,974 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 4,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hill Island Financial LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. Hill Island Financial LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna lifted 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 note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of 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, Loop Capital cut 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 research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $182.32 on Friday. The firm 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. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.05.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.