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

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,282 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 62,098 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $40,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth $1,563,020,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,569,859 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $8,129,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,127 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 359.3% in the fourth quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 957,699 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $282,406,000 after acquiring an additional 749,199 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth $177,933,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 640,755 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $188,946,000 after acquiring an additional 249,455 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $341.77 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $336.03 and a 200 day moving average of $311.64. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $224.64 and a 12 month high of $380.84. The firm has a market cap of $110.67 billion, a PE ratio of 49.68, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.13.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 19th. The network technology company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 32.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $375.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, August 16th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $366.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $390.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $366.08.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 66,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.98, for a total transaction of $22,865,104.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 639,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $219,505,142.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.93, for a total value of $17,755,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,055,533.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 464,075 shares of company stock worth $154,029,567. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.