Board of the Pension Protection Fund Trims Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 44.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,100 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. Barclays cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim reissued a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $202.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $134.92 billion, a PE ratio of 115.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $190.04 and a 200 day moving average of $185.39. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.01 and a 1-year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 795,536 shares of company stock valued at $141,007,618. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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