Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Increased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,952 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 7,792 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth approximately $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the third quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.84.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of PANW stock opened at $183.98 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $164.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.84. The company has a market cap of $150.13 billion, a PE ratio of 101.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora purchased 68,085 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. The trade was a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.