Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 6,725,148 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,611,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,831,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $18,987,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.25.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

PANW stock opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $112.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.14, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.48. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.50 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, analysts forecast 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.