Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 152.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,288 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 24,317 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. RB Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.25.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $187.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.48. The stock has a market cap of $112.98 billion, a PE ratio of 96.14, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 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.