IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 81.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,523 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 11,475 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,883 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.0% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 97,351 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,714,000 after purchasing an additional 49,391 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $184.96 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $187.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.38. The company has a market cap of $122.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.20, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. JMP Securities upped 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. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.