Employees Retirement System of Texas Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 100.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 423,700 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 211,850 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.06% of Palo Alto Networks worth $77,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.1% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 2,446 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 86.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 819,398 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $153,028,000 after acquiring an additional 380,796 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 116.6% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 76,639 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,945,000 after purchasing an additional 41,252 shares in the last quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 2,890 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445 shares during the period. Finally, Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,043 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 8,682 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.27.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $153.57 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.83 and a 1-year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $101.68 billion, a PE ratio of 86.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $185.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.36.

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

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 818,544 shares of company stock worth $147,132,028 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.