AIA Group Ltd Grows Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 203.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,924 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,959 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PANW. KeyCorp lifted their price target 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. JMP Securities upped their target price on 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.25.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.14, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $187.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.48.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, analysts anticipate 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.