Employees Retirement System of Texas Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 423,700 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 211,850 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of Palo Alto Networks worth $77,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,543,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This represents a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 568,962 shares of company stock worth $96,933,690. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $196.40 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Northland Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $4.96 on Friday, reaching $190.78. The stock had a trading volume of 11,416,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,595,989. The business's 50 day moving average is $178.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The company has a market cap of $127.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.