Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $99.70 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 547,900 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 274,700 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $99,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $179.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,377,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,806,542. The firm's 50 day moving average is $176.86 and its 200 day moving average is $184.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.00 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $118.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, 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 available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

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.