RMR Wealth Builders Purchases 8,159 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 195.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,334 shares of the network technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,159 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $340,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,016,374 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $13,100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,830 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3,881.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 721,157 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $146,842,000 after purchasing an additional 703,044 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 155,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,190,293.42. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,502,184.05. The trade was a 1.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 260,542 shares of company stock worth $49,910,995 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $166.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.52, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.75. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $223.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $186.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The network technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 11.69% and a return on equity of 17.05%. Palo Alto Networks’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price target (up previously from $228.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.09.

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.