Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 111.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 148,395 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 78,081 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $27,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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, fifteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.46.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $192.98. 4,182,191 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,714,844. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $177.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.09. The company has a market cap of $127.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.72, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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