Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by NWI Management LP

NWI Management LP boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,500 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.0% of NWI Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. NWI Management LP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $192.00 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.90. The firm has a market cap of $127.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.06.

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.