Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 91.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 878,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of Palo Alto Networks worth $334,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,075,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 50,650 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $17,322,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 38,539 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $13,173,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,220,000 after acquiring an additional 2,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. StockNews.com cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $179.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $118.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $185.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict 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.

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