Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Purchases 577 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 403.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 720 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PANW. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $179,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 40.8% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 9.7% during the third quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,757 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 18.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 615 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $6,798,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $320.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.17 and a twelve month high of $380.84.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 31.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total transaction of $660,601.83. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,860,076.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.04, for a total transaction of $16,082,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,163 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.41, for a total value of $660,601.83. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at $3,860,076.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 258,182 shares of company stock worth $74,850,597. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $330.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Argus boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $336.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.17.

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.