Stifel Financial Corp Has $353.63 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 102.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,943,450 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 981,478 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned 0.30% of Palo Alto Networks worth $353,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $7.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $176.04. The company had a trading volume of 4,016,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,825,638. The company has a market capitalization of $116.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.18, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.64. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.81 and a 12-month high of $208.39.

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, beating 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Susquehanna raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JMP Securities upped their price target 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. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently 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.