Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 65.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,680 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Grassi Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 7,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after buying an additional 4,880 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 181.0% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 930 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 184.8% during the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 139.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 47,543 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,651,000 after purchasing an additional 27,692 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $192.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released 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 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.22.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.