Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,068 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 26,222 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $2,609,486,000 after buying an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $685,364,000 after acquiring an additional 31,595 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position 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 worth $297,450,000 after purchasing an additional 848,127 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $187.50 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.14. The stock has a market cap of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

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.