FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Purchases 2,734 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 169.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,348 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,075,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,173 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $328,470,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter worth $94,875,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $189.55 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $186.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.12. The stock has a market cap of $125.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $132.50 and a one year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PANW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

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.