National Pension Service Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 622,330 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,454 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.20% of Palo Alto Networks worth $183,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 23.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $14,551,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 534,297 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $125,120,000 after buying an additional 21,186 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.5% during the third 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 holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 1.9 %

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $5.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $297.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,367,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,190,239. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.75 and a twelve month high of $380.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $285.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $294.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value 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 $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.13, for a total transaction of $523,002.71. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 25,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,230,715.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value 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 $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 280,193 shares of company stock valued at $80,670,132. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Loop Capital cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $363.00 to $337.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $345.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.82.

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.