Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Purchases 1,001 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,175 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $18,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSG Advisors LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 5,160 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 300 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 112,040 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $33,038,000 after buying an additional 26,767 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,726 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $7,291,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 91.0% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $365.00 to $360.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 125,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.00, for a total value of $42,165,110.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 166,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,791,570. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.92, for a total transaction of $497,517.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 20,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,292,166.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 428,391 shares of company stock valued at $136,147,317. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded down $6.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $331.04. 2,542,387 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,681,768. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $314.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $309.12. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.17 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 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.