Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Acquires 8,680 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 65.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,037 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,680 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 511 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This trade represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $187.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.61, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.40.

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.