California Public Employees Retirement System Has $166.60 Million Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 564,987 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $166,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.6% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,628 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,635 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18,500.0% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 186 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $243,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $325.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,629,160. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total value of $15,436,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 in the last ninety days. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

PANW traded up $10.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $292.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,349,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,495,001. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $176.30 and a 52 week high of $380.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $293.65 and its 200-day moving average is $291.51. The firm has a market cap of $94.35 billion, a PE ratio of 45.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.19.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.22. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.