Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Trims Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in 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 & Exchange Commission. 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 approximately 1.3% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $30,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 11,293 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 57,334 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $10,561,000 after buying an additional 7,396 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 349 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,544 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PANW shares. New Street Research lowered their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $240.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 18th. HSBC cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $157.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $147.02 on Monday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.28. The firm has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.23, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.81, for a total value of $147,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 46,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora acquired 68,085 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,434,276.78. This represents a 24.73% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 144,252 shares of company stock valued at $26,947,635. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.