Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,767 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 116.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,023 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Stephens lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.13, for a total transaction of $18,252,574.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 321,774 shares in the company, valued at $48,629,704.62. This represents a 27.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 795,536 shares of company stock worth $141,007,618 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ PANW opened at $200.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $190.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.42. The stock has a market cap of $133.74 billion, a PE ratio of 114.61, a PEG ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.97. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.01 and a 12 month high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.28 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. 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 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.