Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Buys 8,782 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 111.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,664 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,782 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 6,541 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 6,003 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.04 and a fifty-two week high of $208.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.29. The company has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 23.36% and a net margin of 32.99%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total value of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

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.