Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 152.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,241 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $388,155,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $334,697,000 after acquiring an additional 878,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $187.54 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 105.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average is $186.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.