California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 564,987 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Palo Alto Networks worth $166,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,284 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 56,866 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $16,769,000 after buying an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $555,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $771,643,000 after buying an additional 1,187,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $274.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $10.32 on Tuesday, reaching $292.00. 1,349,587 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,495,001. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a market cap of $94.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $293.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.51.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total transaction of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock worth $49,395,553. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.