Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,469 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 2,718 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $1,400,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $2,870,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $12,874,000. Marex Group plc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth about $395,000. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 79.1% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 641 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.39, for a total value of $132,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,805 shares in the company, valued at $8,864,398.95. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 275,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. The trade was a 75.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock worth $251,702,305 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $191.69 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $223.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $204.67 and its 200 day moving average is $197.51. The stock has a market cap of $133.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.32, a PEG ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Stephens raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, November 24th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.09.

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.