Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 114.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,717 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 68,790 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $23,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,010,403,000 after buying an additional 2,067,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $1.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $169.57. 1,512,299 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,887,774. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.18 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.27 billion, a PE ratio of 95.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.90.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 939,318 shares of company stock worth $165,384,602 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.