Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 95.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 87,972 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 42,955 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $16,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in 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.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of PANW opened at $178.98 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.72. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.00 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $118.50 billion, a PE ratio of 100.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. Stephens assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $455.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.06.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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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