AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 318.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,005,072 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 764,917 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.15% of Palo Alto Networks worth $182,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th 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 period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of PANW traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $186.27. The stock had a trading volume of 4,618,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,804,865. The company's 50-day moving average is $175.98 and its 200 day moving average is $184.71. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $123.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group boosted 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. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.