Forum Financial Management LP Grows Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 103.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,456 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,010,403,000 after buying an additional 2,067,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Stephens assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Two research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $167.69 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.60 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $180.06 and a 200 day moving average of $184.86. The company has a market capitalization of $111.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

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.

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