Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,666 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,402 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $29,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,799 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 29,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,563,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 2,524 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,396 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at $46,659,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total value of $16,082,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $281.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $293.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.51. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict 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.