Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 126.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,977 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 19,004 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after acquiring an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $970,736,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during 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. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $868,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $198,214,409.80. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $173.18 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $114.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $186.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.38.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.