Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 445,813 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 94.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 918,110 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 445,813 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Palo Alto Networks worth $167,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % 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. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given 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 target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, hitting $184.28. The company had a trading volume of 4,533,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,088,462. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.34 and a 200-day moving average of $184.74.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.