State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Has $40.07 Million Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 129.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 220,232 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 124,200 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $40,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after purchasing an additional 31,281,359 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,611,013,000 after buying an additional 6,725,148 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,759,689 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,048,033,000 after buying an additional 2,612,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,552,888 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,010,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $160.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $179.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.90. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $137.60 and a one year high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $105.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.07.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This represents a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $16,541,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,543,516 shares in the company, valued at $586,132,981.56. The trade was a 2.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,039,318 shares of company stock worth $181,925,602 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BTIG Research cut Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.06.

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.