Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $868.89 Million Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 86.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,775,171 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,220,130 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 0.7% of Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.73% of Palo Alto Networks worth $868,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $207,000. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 124.9% in the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 15,370 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 8,535 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,046,899 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $180,936,000 after acquiring an additional 314,302 shares in the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,708 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,314,000 after acquiring an additional 4,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,087,682 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $197,915,000 after acquiring an additional 535,124 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $172.76 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.39 and a 200 day moving average of $185.39. The company has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.33, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.