Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Holdings Boosted by Cape ANN Savings Bank

Cape ANN Savings Bank raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 109.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,633 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,424 shares during the quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $843,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,005,161 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $685,364,000 after purchasing an additional 31,595 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 valued at $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $297,450,000 after purchasing an additional 848,127 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, 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 owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % 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 worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

PANW opened at $191.03 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $187.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share 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.