California Public Employees Retirement System Buys 535,124 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 96.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,087,682 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 535,124 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $197,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 106,248 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $36,316,000 after buying an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 6,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,336,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,134 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter worth $305,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 358,197 shares in the company, valued at $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 235,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.32, for a total value of $43,170,393.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,086,404 shares in the company, valued at $199,159,581.28. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $217.50 to $230.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $425.00 to $213.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $172.76 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.50 and a 12 month high of $208.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.39 and a 200-day moving average of $185.49.

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

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.