Fayez Sarofim & Co Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 93.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,510 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,180 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $970,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $7.72 during trading on Thursday, hitting $176.04. 4,016,386 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,826,151. The company has a market cap of $116.56 billion, a PE ratio of 99.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $177.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.64. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.81 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.