Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 104.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,191,074 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,118,122 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.33% of Palo Alto Networks worth $398,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the 4th 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. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.3 %

PANW stock traded up $4.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $185.73. 2,035,448 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,800,170. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.43, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.00 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $176.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.69.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on PANW. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned 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.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.