Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases 33,122 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 63.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,187 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,122 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Webster Bank N. A. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 607.1% during the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 101 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 107 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $405.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.78.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total transaction of $10,559,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,259,567 shares in the company, valued at $369,443,596.77. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.31, for a total value of $10,559,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,259,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,443,596.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 315,947 shares of company stock worth $91,203,807 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.8 %

PANW stock traded up $5.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $295.41. 3,734,605 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,087,745. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.17 and a 1-year high of $380.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $292.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.65 billion, a PE ratio of 42.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.10.

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