Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 24,036 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,072 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,036 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,747,000 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. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 343.0% in the fourth 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 increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 115,018 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $20,929,000 after buying an additional 24,170 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 87.1% in the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,852 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,247,000 after buying an additional 3,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 170.5% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the 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 directly owns 358,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % 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 worth $181,925,602. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of PANW stock traded up $7.72 on Thursday, hitting $176.04. 4,016,386 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,826,151. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $177.93 and a 200 day moving average of $184.64. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.81 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PANW shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $196.40 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res raised Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

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.