Korea Investment CORP Buys 385,537 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 150.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 642,191 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 385,537 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $116,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW stock opened at $184.96 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $187.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.38. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $122.46 billion, a PE ratio of 104.20, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on PANW shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BTIG Research downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the company’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 transaction of $43,170,393.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,159,581.28. This represents a 17.81 % 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, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

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.