Beacon Financial Group Purchases 76 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Beacon Financial Group raised its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,782 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,233,907 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $11,142,122,000 after buying an additional 31,281,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,382,116 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,611,013,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725,148 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $970,736,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after purchasing an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 8,427,062 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,533,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841,359 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. UBS Group lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $221.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.36, for a total transaction of $19,336,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,343,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,502,253.76. This trade represents a 2.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total value of $23,567,838.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,564,964.44. This represents a 31.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $199.60 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.01 and a 12-month high of $208.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.09. The stock has a market cap of $133.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.