Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, acquiring an additional 70,989 shares, resulting in a total ownership of approximately 1.42 million shares valued at about $241.75 million.
• Insider transactions saw Director Aparna Bawa selling 526 shares for approximately $99,940, while EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares for about $17.28 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported earnings of $0.80 per share in its last quarterly report, exceeding estimates, and noted a 15.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.29 billion.

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,416,729 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 70,989 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.21% of Palo Alto Networks worth $241,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 1,885 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Dagco Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Prudential PLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,495 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,541,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $52,045,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 212,245 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,289,000 after buying an additional 17,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $99,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.80, for a total value of $17,280,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,143,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $543,199,564.80. This represents a 3.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $175.40 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $193.26 and its 200-day moving average is $186.70. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.15 and a 52 week high of $210.39. The company has a market capitalization of $116.96 billion, a PE ratio of 100.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $217.52.

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.

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