J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Acquires 113,123 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 302.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,480 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 113,123 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $7.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $176.04. 4,016,386 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,825,638. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.18, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.81 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.93 and a 200 day moving average of $184.64.

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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.