DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 60,478 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 110.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,443 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,478 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $21,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alerus Financial NA boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 13,693 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,498 shares during the last quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 800 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 101.4% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,228 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,409,000 after buying an additional 12,200 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,997,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,313,633 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $602,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,508 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock traded down $2.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $170.08. The company had a trading volume of 3,461,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,898,991. The company has a market capitalization of $112.61 billion, a PE ratio of 95.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $187.39 and a 200 day moving average of $185.49. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.25.

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.