Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 922,299 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 93.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,904 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 922,299 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $10,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $364,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 465.5% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 950,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $172,862,000 after acquiring an additional 782,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $443,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim cut 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. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW opened at $167.69 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $180.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.98. The stock has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 94.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.60 and a 52-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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.