Janus Henderson Group PLC Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 125.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,255,102 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 697,327 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.19% of Palo Alto Networks worth $228,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. now owns 15,186 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593 shares in the last quarter. KKM Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.8% during the fourth quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 22,718 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 11,734 shares in the last quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 175.0% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 2,200 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $36,399,000. Finally, Geller Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 127.0% during the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Roth Capital initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW traded up $2.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $192.90. 5,430,875 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,734,029. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $176.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.72 billion, a PE ratio of 108.68, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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

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.