Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Buys 171,126 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 105.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 333,294 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 171,126 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned 0.05% of Palo Alto Networks worth $60,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.7% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 107,537 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $19,567,000 after purchasing an additional 52,865 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 2,264 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 128,717 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $23,422,000 after buying an additional 68,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This trade represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 490,723 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $89,532,411.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $198,214,409.80. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 939,318 shares of company stock valued at $165,384,602 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $169.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,708,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,888,514. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $182.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.90. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.18 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $112.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.66, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PANW. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.52.

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.