Tredje AP fonden Increases Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 70.4%, acquiring 132,427 additional shares to reach a total of 320,407 shares valued at approximately $54.67 million.
• The stock of Palo Alto Networks has recently experienced a 5.6% decline, trading at $183.03 while the company has a market cap of $122.04 billion.
• Analysts have various ratings for Palo Alto Networks, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a target price around $209.42, reflecting market optimism despite some lower projections from different brokerages.

Tredje AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 70.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 320,407 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 132,427 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $54,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in shares of 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 period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the first quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 322 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities dropped their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday. TD Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Capital started coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.00, for a total value of $122,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 41,433 shares in the company, valued at $8,452,332. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 569,248 shares of company stock worth $111,279,829 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.4%

PANW stock traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $172.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,231,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,904,851. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $196.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $115.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.79, a PEG ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.