Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Stake Raised by National Pension Service

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 738,962 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,044 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.23% of Palo Alto Networks worth $252,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7 %

PANW opened at $356.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 1.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $384.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $352.69 and a 200-day moving average of $329.75.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.11% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Northland Securities upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $378.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 618,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,680,932.85. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.44, for a total transaction of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,175,564.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 255,252 shares of company stock valued at $89,383,077 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.30% 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.