E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter, bringing its total shares owned to 30,964, valued at approximately $5.28 million.
• Several hedge funds have significantly boosted their positions in Palo Alto Networks, with notable increases from Capital Research Global Investors (83.8%) and Northern Trust Corp (133.7%).
• Palo Alto Networks reported a net margin of 13.95% and earnings of $0.80 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and showcasing a revenue increase of 15.3% year-over-year.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 41.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,964 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,138 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.3%

PANW opened at $175.40 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.15 and a 12-month high of $210.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.96 billion, a PE ratio of 100.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $193.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.70.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 264,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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