Utah Retirement Systems Increases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 111.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 107,510 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,555 shares during the quarter. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $19,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 55 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 906 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 47,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total transaction of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. This represents a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of PANW opened at $186.65 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.70. The company has a market cap of $123.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.00 and a twelve month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Guggenheim downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.06.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.