Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 168,265 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 97.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 340,670 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 168,265 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.0% of Advisors Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $61,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,010,403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,067,838 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $970,736,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of PANW opened at $168.34 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.18 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $182.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.79. The company has a market cap of $111.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.84, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.