Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Increased by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 661,826 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 127,570 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 1.0% of Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $121,908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Expressive Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter worth about $377,000. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 170,296 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,369,000 after purchasing an additional 5,170 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 4,360 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,500 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at $8,631,525. This represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,756 shares of company stock worth $5,076,355 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $256.75 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $261.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.51 billion, a PE ratio of 141.85, a P/E/G ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Benchmark began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Evercore raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $250.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.16.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company’s product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.