Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Takes $1.13 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,205 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,129,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth 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 purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. BTIG Research lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $167.69 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $180.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.71. The company has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.47, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.60 and a 52 week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.