Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,746,971 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,151 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.55% of Palo Alto Networks worth $515,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 62,066 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $14,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 534,297 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $125,120,000 after buying an additional 21,186 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,868 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.6% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 4,830 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Capital One Financial downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $302.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.24, for a total value of $10,376,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,295,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,434,232.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 158,917 shares of company stock valued at $44,335,843. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $4.95 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $305.52. 4,603,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,257,741. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $285.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $294.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.75 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share 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.