Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 114.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,654 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,701 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.9 %

PANW opened at $180.93 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.81. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $119.79 billion, a PE ratio of 101.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective 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. 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 one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.