Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Increased by Pinebridge Investments L.P.

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 287,623 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 78,136 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $52,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,010,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067,838 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW traded up $7.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $176.04. The stock had a trading volume of 4,016,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,826,155. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $177.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.69. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.81 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $116.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. JMP Securities upped their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.