Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Position Raised by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 130.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 117,669 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,611 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $21,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,609,486,000 after acquiring an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $764,764,000 after buying an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $388,155,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $334,697,000 after buying an additional 878,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $185.00 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.50 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.49 billion, a PE ratio of 104.23, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.97.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was 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 $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. The trade was a 24.70 % 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 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $193.50 to $224.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

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.