Jennison Associates LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.97% of Palo Alto Networks worth $1,075,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,113,948,000 after buying an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,243,457 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,099,564,000 after acquiring an additional 255,060 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $757,321,000 after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,000,511 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $339,183,000 after acquiring an additional 73,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total transaction of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,983,359.33. The trade was a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.50, for a total transaction of $11,970,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,115,567 shares in the company, valued at $370,926,027.50. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.94 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $393.00. 3,177,273 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,833,274. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's fifty day moving average is $361.53 and its 200-day moving average is $338.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $258.17 and a 12-month high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $391.92.

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.