Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 112.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,696 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,348 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $268,851,000 after buying an additional 129,371 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 16,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $5,705,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 177.6% during the 3rd quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,168 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $89,532,411.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,214,409.80. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ PANW opened at $191.03 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.48. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PANW. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. HSBC cut Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.69.

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.