Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $20.20 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,501 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 654 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $20,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Magnus Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 9,869 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,910,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,000. Little House Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $769,000. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total value of $17,059,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,327,194.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,247 shares in the company, valued at $7,629,160. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.33, for a total transaction of $17,059,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,327,194.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 122,917 shares of company stock worth $33,959,203. Insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $293.41 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $176.30 and a 1 year high of $380.84. The company has a market capitalization of $94.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $286.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.81.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 30.24% and a return on equity of 36.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wedbush increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.82.

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.