Prudential Financial Inc. Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 69.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,695 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 138,790 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $61,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $852,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zega Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the third quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 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 $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $171.59. 2,409,221 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,896,880. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.64, a P/E/G 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $187.47 and a 200 day moving average of $185.31.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.