Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 60.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,532 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 12,970 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $6,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 246.3% in the 4th quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 142 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $189.55 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $132.50 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The company has a market capitalization of $125.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $186.60 and a 200 day moving average of $184.12.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 99,707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.45, for a total value of $18,191,542.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 358,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,353,042.65. The trade was a 21.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total transaction of $126,854.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,122,864 shares of company stock worth $204,315,811 in the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.