Ramirez Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 800 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 101.4% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,228 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,409,000 after buying an additional 12,200 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,997,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 144.3% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,313,633 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $602,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,508 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 111.8% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 436,439 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $79,414,000 after buying an additional 230,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Broadway Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $519,000. 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 the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 5.7 %

PANW stock opened at $174.44 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $115.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.31.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

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.