Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Purchased by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,140 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,189 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $33,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Cornerstone Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,055,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 10.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 246,206 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $57,957,000 after acquiring an additional 23,719 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 111.0% in the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 128,375 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $30,096,000 after acquiring an additional 67,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,538 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $240,168.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,997,573.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.21, for a total transaction of $240,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,997,573.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,182 shares of company stock worth $74,850,597 over the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.78.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW traded down $2.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $317.31. 2,485,893 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,129,325. The company has a market capitalization of $102.74 billion, a PE ratio of 46.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 1.10. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.17 and a 52-week high of $380.84. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.16.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current 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.