Vanguard Group Inc. Has $13.10 Billion Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Palo Alto Networks worth $13,100,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth approximately $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,234,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $662,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688,432 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.19, for a total transaction of $1,020,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 96,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,629,805.65. This trade represents a 4.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.97, for a total transaction of $153,979.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 47,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,449,674.85. This represents a 1.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 1,215,830 shares of company stock valued at $249,160,428 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Twenty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.14.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.1%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $202.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company has a market capitalization of $138.78 billion, a PE ratio of 126.42, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.95.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict 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.