Bessemer Group Inc. Has $146.84 Million Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 3,881.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 721,157 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 703,044 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $146,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6,400.0% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 130 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 7.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $154.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.87 billion, a PE ratio of 97.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $223.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.67 and a 200-day moving average of $193.79.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (up from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $232.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $177.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.09.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director James J. Goetz sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.33, for a total transaction of $2,441,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 75,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,685,690.72. This represents a 14.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 260,542 shares of company stock valued at $49,910,995. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.