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

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 79,713 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,683,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of 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. BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction 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 $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total transaction of $31,730,609.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.39 and a 200 day moving average of $185.31. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks 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.