Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,195 shares of the network technology company’s stock after selling 4,660 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up about 1.3% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $30,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 147.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,761 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 4,031 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 5,212 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $675,865,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 87,031 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $17,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $147.02 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.23, a PEG ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.28. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CEO Nikesh Arora bought 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $146.87 per share, with a total value of $9,999,643.95. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock worth $26,947,635. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $235.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Truist Financial set a $200.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Arete Research raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.