Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is Scientech Research LLC's 10th Largest Position

Scientech Research LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 85.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,928 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,579 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.5% of Scientech Research LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Scientech Research LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.46.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $194.48. 9,202,119 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,679,415. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $177.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $128.77 billion, a PE ratio of 109.57, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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.