Geode Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 87.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.19% of Palo Alto Networks worth $2,611,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,220,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PANW traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $171.31. 4,034,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,899,185. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company's fifty day moving average price is $187.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.46. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.