Ion Asset Management Ltd. Acquires New Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,700 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,583,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $181.54 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.00 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $176.39 and a 200-day moving average of $184.69.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

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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