Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires 274,700 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 547,900 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 274,700 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $99,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $548,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $168.32 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $177.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.64. The company has a market cap of $111.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.81 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm 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%. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.06.

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.

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