Kentucky Retirement Systems Raises Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,348 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 29,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,065,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 626,801 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $212,492,000 after acquiring an additional 3,341 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 20.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 32,412 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $10,884,000 after purchasing an additional 5,482 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 68,353 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $23,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 71,335 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $24,183,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total value of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 200 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.00, for a total value of $67,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 24,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,443,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 464,075 shares of company stock valued at $154,029,567 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.08.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $329.75 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $224.64 and a fifty-two week high of $380.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.75. The company has a market cap of $107.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.93, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

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.