California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 95.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,005,845 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 491,066 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Palo Alto Networks worth $183,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $186.93. 5,904,391 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,810,636. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $176.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.00 and a 52 week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. Research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock valued at $181,925,602 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $190.00 target price (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. HSBC upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $156.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.06.

Palo Alto Networks 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.