FIL Ltd Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 67.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,760 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,660 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,782,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $868,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,130 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents 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, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW traded up $1.64 on Monday, reaching $169.98. 5,098,383 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,901,550. The stock has a market cap of $112.54 billion, a PE ratio of 95.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.18 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $182.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.90.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.52.

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.