Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Lowers Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,443 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 26,367 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after buying an additional 1,240,830 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,174,029 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,093,262,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 6,902,048 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,177,765,000 after purchasing an additional 950,765 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,295,588 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,083,689,000 after purchasing an additional 377,496 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,476,638 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $916,099,000 after purchasing an additional 54,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $185.88 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $144.15 and a one year high of $223.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $204.14 and its 200 day moving average is $197.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.56 billion, a PE ratio of 117.65, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.05% and a net margin of 11.69%.Palo Alto Networks’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total value of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,685,690.72. The trade was a 14.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.94, for a total value of $26,321,485.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 356,409 shares in the company, valued at $77,675,777.46. The trade was a 25.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,228,330 shares of company stock valued at $251,702,305 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PANW. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. New Street Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 8th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.09.

Palo Alto Networks 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.