Prudential PLC Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 94.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,326 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 35,168 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during 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 lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $970,736,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in 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 own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. JMP Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, March 31st. BTIG Research cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $153.57 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.63 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a PE ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.10.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 176,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,114,786 shares of company stock worth $200,426,637. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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.