Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $98.58 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 57.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 541,757 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 198,492 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks worth $98,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during 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 buying an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in 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 in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of PANW traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $192.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,554,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,734,869. The company has a market cap of $127.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.26 and a 200 day moving average of $184.85. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.06.

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.