E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Decreases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,511 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 66,269 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 1.2% of E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $43,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after buying an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,343,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $646,502,253.76. This trade represents a 2.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 264,246 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ PANW traded down $3.27 on Monday, hitting $196.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,563,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,513,814. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.01 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $180.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.92. The firm has a market cap of $130.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.61, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. HSBC raised Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens cut Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.00.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.