Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,206,552 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,264 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.18% of Palo Alto Networks worth $205,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,533,419,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841,359 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $3.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $198.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,440,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,530,961. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $179.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.03. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.55, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction 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 approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% 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 Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 668,962 shares of company stock worth $116,269,690 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.