State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 209,360 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

State of Michigan Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 70.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,400 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 209,360 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $24,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $8,129,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,020,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,136,547 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $924,905,000 after acquiring an additional 30,013 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $771,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29,086.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,057,968 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $606,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $340.44 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.17 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $308.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.39. The firm has a market cap of $110.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 1.14.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.07. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 31.42% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks 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 shares were sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 19,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,452,097.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, President William D. Jenkins, Jr. sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.12, for a total transaction of $500,202.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 19,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,452,097.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 174,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,659,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 259,857 shares of company stock valued at $75,418,399. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Daiwa Capital Markets initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, June 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Daiwa America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $327.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.29.

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.