Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Invests $226,000 in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,326 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PANW. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL lifted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 141 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 265.0% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 150 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 102.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 156 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $197.12. The stock had a trading volume of 4,815,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,551,490. The stock has a market cap of $131.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 111.05, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business's 50 day moving average is $178.50 and its 200 day moving average is $184.88. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 14.64% and a return on equity of 21.93%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Barclays cut their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $213.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.27, for a total transaction of $22,858,894.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 293,010 shares in the company, valued at $55,458,002.70. This represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total value of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at $54,854,038.83. The trade was a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,962 shares of company stock valued at $96,933,690 over the last 90 days. 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.