Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. Buys Shares of 11,554 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,554 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $2,102,000.

Several other institutional investors have also 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. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $388,155,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $172.56. The stock had a trading volume of 3,004,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,621,874. The firm's 50 day moving average is $187.47 and its 200 day moving average is $185.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.32, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks 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.