CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Acquires 339,935 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 97.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 688,564 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 339,935 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $125,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake 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. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,220,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

PANW traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $167.69. The stock had a trading volume of 4,768,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,858,295. The stock has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 94.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.60 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $180.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.86.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

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.