State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,181 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.06% of Palo Alto Networks worth $51,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050,917 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,616,803 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $771,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,915 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 6,453.6% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 437,910 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $102,670,000 after buying an additional 431,228 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 463.5% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 493,053 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $115,591,000 after purchasing an additional 405,553 shares during the period. Finally, Mirova US LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,638,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,955,958.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $343.03, for a total transaction of $15,436,350.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,105 shares in the company, valued at $67,955,958.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $294,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,629,160. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,917 shares of company stock valued at $49,395,553 over the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.9 %

PANW stock traded up $2.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $291.42. 2,245,297 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,423,290. The stock has a market cap of $94.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.19. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $176.30 and a one year high of $380.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $291.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 36.58% and a net margin of 30.24%. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Loop Capital downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $378.00 to $327.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.82.

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.