Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 137,615 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 274,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 137,615 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $50,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $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 valued at $96,933,690 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.7%

PANW opened at $186.14 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.01 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The stock has a market cap of $123.24 billion, a PE ratio of 104.87, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $178.03 and a 200-day moving average of $185.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) 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 firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.40.

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.