Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.7% in the first quarter, adding 19,097 shares to bring its total holding to 732,562 shares worth about $117.4 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on PANW, with multiple firms raising price targets; the stock’s consensus price target stands at $327.74, though it recently traded above that level at $358.68.

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 732,562 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 19,097 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Palo Alto Networks worth $117,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% during the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the fourth quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,477,180. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $358.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $368.80. The company has a market capitalization of $292.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 294.00, a PEG ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $290.04 and a 200-day moving average of $212.30.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The company's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PANW. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $325.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Northland Securities upped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $114.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.74.

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.

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