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

Darden Wealth Group Inc raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 99.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,186 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 3,588 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.9% of Darden Wealth Group Inc's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Darden Wealth Group Inc's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $868,890,000 after buying an additional 2,220,130 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded up $2.73 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.26. 1,965,202 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,896,104. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.83 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The stock's 50 day moving average is $183.39 and its 200 day moving average is $184.91. The company has a market cap of $102.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.27.

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.