Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Raises Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 97.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,688 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,656,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,005,161 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $685,364,000 after purchasing an additional 31,595 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $333,925,000 after buying an additional 1,213,073 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $297,450,000 after buying an additional 848,127 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 0.8 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $189.55 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.12. The firm has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a PE ratio of 106.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.