Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Has $15.79 Million Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,533 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,655 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.8% of Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $15,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 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 raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth 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. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $199.78 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $186.18 and its 200 day moving average is $185.26. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $142.01 and a one year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $133.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.16, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares in the company, valued at $51,564,964.44. The trade was a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks 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.