Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Acquired by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 129.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220,232 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,200 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $40,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 440,422 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $80,144,000 after acquiring an additional 222,575 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 48,072 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,747,000 after buying an additional 24,036 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 343.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 63,551 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,564,000 after acquiring an additional 49,204 shares in the last quarter. Thematics Asset Management raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 115,018 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $20,929,000 after acquiring an additional 24,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PANW. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 4.6 %

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $160.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $105.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.60 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.90.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. On average, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.