OV Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

OV Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 111.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,590 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,952 shares during the period. OV Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $4,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,987,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.25.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of PANW opened at $170.64 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $132.50 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.14, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $187.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.48.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current 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.