Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 230,337 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 111.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 436,439 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230,337 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $79,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $388,155,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $174.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $115.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.