Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 274,963 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 137,615 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $50,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Grassi Investment Management grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 7,910 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 4,880 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.5% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 4,458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 127,483 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,197,000 after purchasing an additional 61,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 129.4% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $187.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,317,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,611,703. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $178.09 and its 200-day moving average is $185.18.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Northland Securities decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of 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 given a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% 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.