Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) by 376.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,195 shares of the network technology company’s stock after buying an additional 19,112 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CFO4Life Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,357 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $4,855,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 11,251 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 5,436 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 9,461 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $260.58 on Tuesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $261.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 143.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price target (up from $245.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $226.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.95, for a total value of $94,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 82,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,604,295.20. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total transaction of $3,729,476.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,631,525. The trade was a 30.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 30,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,076,355 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks 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.