Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,233,918 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,742 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises approximately 0.7% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.69% of Palo Alto Networks worth $757,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3,200.0% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 89.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 106 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $333.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $108.62 billion, a PE ratio of 48.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $224.64 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.89.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The business’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 166,542 shares in the company, valued at $55,791,570. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

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.