Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Bought by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 102.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 188,296 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 95,458 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $34,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,156,000. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $24,414,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,147,215 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,075,718,000 after buying an additional 1,050,173 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 961,000 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $328,470,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,844,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $184.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,533,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,088,462. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $186.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.74. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $132.50 and a 52-week high of $208.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.82, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. HSBC lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $145.50 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $195.00 to $212.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BTIG Research lowered Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 365,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,744,323.20. This represents a 24.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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.