Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Boosts Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value 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 represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.40.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.67. 1,866,272 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,597,202. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $178.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

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

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.