Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 31,281,359 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 104.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.33% of Palo Alto Networks worth $11,142,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,226 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 2,653 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 105.7% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,166 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 124.9% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 7,974 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 4,429 shares during the period. Finally, Hill Island Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. Hill Island Financial LLC now owns 1,214 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Barclays lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 5.7 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $10.52 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $174.44. 7,153,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,728,560. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.31. The company has a market cap of $115.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.