79,713 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Bought by Allianz SE

Allianz SE purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 79,713 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,683,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 13,454.5% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 21,145 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $7,227,000 after buying an additional 20,989 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PANW stock opened at $172.76 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.