Achmea Investment Management B.V. Lowers Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lowered its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 270,933 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 23,899 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 0.7% of Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $55,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $502,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,738 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,755,000 after buying an additional 1,041,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $169.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.06 billion, a PE ratio of 93.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.78. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 46,005 shares in the company, valued at $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.