Jennison Associates LLC Has $1.08 Billion Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 50.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.97% of Palo Alto Networks worth $1,075,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.2% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 25,779 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $240,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 93,872 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $32,085,000 after buying an additional 5,304 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 116.6% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 535 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterweight Ventures LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.1% during the third quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 7,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,703,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PANW. UBS Group boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $391.92.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,517 shares in the company, valued at $10,983,359.33. This represents a 24.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. The trade was a 27.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,252 shares of company stock worth $89,041,637. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $388.06 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $361.53 and a 200-day moving average of $338.02. The company has a market capitalization of $126.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $249.56 and a 52-week high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.