APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires 381,683 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1,122.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415,678 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 381,683 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.06% of Palo Alto Networks worth $73,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 72.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 54,460 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $9,910,000 after acquiring an additional 22,824 shares during the period. RiverGlades Family Offices LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. RiverGlades Family Offices LLC now owns 4,500 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $819,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $761,000. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC now owns 42,709 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,771,000 after acquiring an additional 21,007 shares during the period. Finally, Sandhill Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. Sandhill Capital Partners LLC now owns 424,601 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $77,260,000 after acquiring an additional 197,131 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.0 %

PANW traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $168.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,295,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,903,601. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.18 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $111.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.84, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Sell-side 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.