Krane Funds Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,186 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,186 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in 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 valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $868,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,130 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 818,544 shares of company stock valued at $147,132,028. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PANW. Stephens began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $153.57 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $185.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.83 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.68 billion, a PE ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.