Retirement Systems of Alabama Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 142,278 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after purchasing an additional 11,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $244,871,000 after purchasing an additional 606,778 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $199.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.31. The firm has a market cap of $132.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.85, a PEG ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.01 and a 1 year high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

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.