Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,558 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,790 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 352.6% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,111.1% during the 1st quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 109 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $410.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $381.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $344.98, for a total value of $20,698,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,854,924.82. This represents a 27.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.49, for a total value of $3,484,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,983,359.33. This trade represents a 24.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 255,252 shares of company stock worth $89,383,077 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded down $7.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $387.00. 2,204,087 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,849,976. The business has a 50-day moving average of $359.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $234.15 and a 12-month high of $408.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.01 billion, a PE ratio of 53.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current 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.