Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Lifted by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 126.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,004 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position 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 valued at $1,048,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $173.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $186.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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 company insiders.

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.