State of Michigan Retirement System Increases Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 101.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,600 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89,400 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $32,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 19.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 786,574 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $268,851,000 after purchasing an additional 129,371 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $36,316,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 5.5% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Optas LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.2% in the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PANW. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $165.00 to $192.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $196.40 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $183.68 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.48, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $186.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.63.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value 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 $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.70, for a total value of $21,564,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 365,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This trade represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.