Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Summit X LLC

Summit X LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 109.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,425 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Summit X LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $2,609,486,000 after purchasing an additional 220,900 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $1,048,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,474 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 109.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,202,926 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $764,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,197,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $388,155,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,822,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $333,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,073 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $178.93 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $185.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.83. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.