Mackenzie Financial Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 98.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,437 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 42,277 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 worth $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $4.96 on Friday, reaching $190.78. 11,416,203 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,559,007. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.21 billion, a PE ratio of 107.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.31 and a 200 day moving average of $184.96.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Palo Alto Networks's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at $55,458,002.70. The trade was a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.