Beacon Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 64.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 337 shares of the network technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $61,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 177.4% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 86 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 91 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $208.28 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.04 and a 52-week high of $208.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.24, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $186.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.29.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The network technology company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 32.99% and a return on equity of 23.36%. On average, analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PANW has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Guggenheim cut Palo Alto Networks from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,694,210.72. This trade represents a 1.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nir Zuk sold 336,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.70, for a total transaction of $65,081,520.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,643,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $705,730,831.62. This trade represents a 8.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,458,864 shares of company stock valued at $269,397,331. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.