Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Purchases 8,680 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 65.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,037 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 8,680 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $4.96 during trading on Friday, reaching $190.78. 11,416,203 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,595,989. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.07. 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 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39.

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

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.