New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 5,369 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 520,925 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 5,369 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Palo Alto Networks worth $95,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 96.1% during the third quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Painted Porch Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 152 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW opened at $179.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.07, a PEG ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $223.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.41.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,631,525. This trade represents a 30.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $224.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.07.

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.