Global Retirement Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 95.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,340 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 3,579 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,005,161 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $685,364,000 after purchasing an additional 31,595 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 199.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,634,701 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $297,450,000 after purchasing an additional 848,127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This represents a 8.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 note on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $191.03 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.95. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $126.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.62, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.14.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.