Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,900 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 920 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,035 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Herbst Group LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Herbst Group LLC now owns 9,692 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares in the company, valued at $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.77, for a total value of $11,439,720.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,187,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,373,165.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 81,586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.99, for a total value of $30,022,832.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 618,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,680,932.85. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,452 shares of company stock worth $118,643,279 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $366.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $119.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.45. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $233.81 and a 1-year high of $384.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The company’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $410.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.82.

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.