Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires Shares of 18,820 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,820 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,611,013,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $199.24. 8,285,645 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,444,625. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.85 billion, a PE ratio of 113.85, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $187.43 and a 200 day moving average of $185.08. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $586,132,981.56. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $39,281,220.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock worth $139,837,528. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

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.