State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,530 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 2,910 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th 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. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PANW shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $202.05 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.46, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $185.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.16.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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.

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