Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stock Position Lifted by Viawealth LLC

Viawealth LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 99.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,691 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $334,697,000 after purchasing an additional 878,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $187.54 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $186.18 and its 200-day moving average is $185.00. The company has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 105.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.