Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 2,220,130 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 86.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,220,130 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 0.7% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $868,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,492 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.8% during the third quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey Wright & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% during the third quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates now owns 9,853 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.