OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Has $4.86 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 142.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,718 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,683 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after buying an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after buying an additional 606,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $192.00 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $176.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.90. The firm has a market cap of $127.12 billion, a PE ratio of 108.17, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $156.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks 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.