Sava Infond d.o.o. Acquires New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Sava Infond d.o.o. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 70,930 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $12,906,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 2.3% of Sava Infond d.o.o.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth 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. Mosley Wealth Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% during the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities raised 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW traded down $1.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $172.76. 6,244,293 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,908,199. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $187.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % 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 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.