PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• PKO Investment Management boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) by 38.9% in Q4 to 25,000 shares, valued at about $4.605 million.
• Nikesh Arora, Palo Alto Networks' CEO, bought 68,085 shares on March 27 at an average $146.87 per share (~$10.0 million), increasing his holding by roughly 24.7%.
• The stock carries a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $210.07, and the company recently beat quarterly estimates with $1.03 EPS and revenue up 14.9% year‑over‑year.

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 38.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,000 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at $75,412,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 134.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 672,129 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $136,859,000 after purchasing an additional 384,985 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,364,442 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $277,828,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC now owns 54,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $11,077,000 after purchasing an additional 15,091 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,554,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $181.10 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $163.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $223.61. The firm has a market cap of $147.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $146.87 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,643.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This trade represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total value of $177,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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