Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $25.77 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 36.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,993 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 85,481 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $25,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total value of $18,252,574.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. The trade was a 27.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 668,722 shares of company stock valued at $121,714,798 over the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Roth Capital started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.3%

PANW opened at $201.50 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.01 and a twelve month high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $193.35 and a 200-day moving average of $185.44. The stock has a market cap of $134.36 billion, a PE ratio of 115.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.