Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Buys 8,782 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 111.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,664 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,782 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 34,318.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,259,063 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,113,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249,594 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,005,161 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $685,364,000 after purchasing an additional 31,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on PANW. OTR Global restated a "negative" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $7.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $191.03. The stock had a trading volume of 5,451,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,377,549. The stock has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $187.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.95.

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 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. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.