CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 151,671 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 113.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 285,535 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 151,671 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $51,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after acquiring an additional 129,371 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $253,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,187,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock worth $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.29. The firm has a market cap of $136.67 billion, a PE ratio of 54.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.04 and a 1 year high of $208.35.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $216.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.70.

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.