555,000 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Acquired by Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt

Key Points

• Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt initiated a new stake in Palo Alto Networks (PANW) in Q4, purchasing 555,000 shares worth about $102.2 million, equal to roughly 0.08% ownership.
• Analysts maintain a positive view with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.64, though several firms have trimmed price targets recently.
• Palo Alto Networks recently beat estimates with Q EPS $1.03 vs. $0.94 and revenue of $2.59 billion (up 14.9% YoY); the stock trades near $183.68 with a market cap of about $149.9 billion.

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 555,000 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $102,225,000. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned approximately 0.08% of Palo Alto Networks as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Indivisible Partners acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $880,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 3,845 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 20,072 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,697,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,820,955 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $519,620,000 after acquiring an additional 428,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,545,782 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,267,000 after acquiring an additional 100,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Berenberg Bank set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.64.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $183.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $149.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $164.95 and a 200-day moving average of $180.69. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business's revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares in the company, valued at $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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