Vestcor Inc Acquires 16,530 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 177.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,867 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,530 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,839,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $334,697,000 after buying an additional 878,400 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $165,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.6% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 43,640 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,941,000 after buying an additional 23,210 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.8% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,176 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $6,401,000 after buying an additional 17,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 40,385 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,348,000 after purchasing an additional 17,534 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.8 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $176.32 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.50 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.74 billion, a PE ratio of 99.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. The trade was a 13.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total transaction of $21,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on PANW. HSBC lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Susquehanna lifted 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. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $212.50 to $217.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

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.