KBC Group NV Has $30.76 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

KBC Group NV lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 9.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 89,987 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 9,147 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $30,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 2,143 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Wintrust Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $1,635,000. Forge First Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at $1,965,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This trade represents a 11.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,517 shares in the company, valued at $14,175,564.48. The trade was a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $394.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $357.82 and a 200-day moving average of $335.01. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $234.15 and a 52-week high of $408.53.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.