Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,666 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,402 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $29,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 421.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 120 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 277.8% in the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 136 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $281.68 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $176.30 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $293.65 and a 200-day moving average of $291.51. The company has a market capitalization of $91.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.01, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.