Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,722 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.4% of Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 2,933.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 140 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down previously from $207.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $192.50 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.22, for a total value of $126,854.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 47,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,694,210.72. The trade was a 1.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 176,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.04, for a total value of $31,730,609.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,086,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,596,176.16. This represents a 13.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,122,864 shares of company stock valued at $204,315,811 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $183.10 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.50 and a 1 year high of $208.39. The firm has a market cap of $121.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.16, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.98.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 21.93% and a net margin of 14.64%. As a group, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS 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.