Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.11% of Palo Alto Networks worth $1,324,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 448,188 shares of company stock valued at $74,074,795 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $188.69. The company had a trading volume of 3,013,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,770,872. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.97 and a 200 day moving average of $184.71.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.