8,321 Shares in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Bought by Sawyer & Company Inc

Key Points

• Sawyer & Company acquired 8,321 Palo Alto Networks shares worth approximately $3.3 million during the third quarter, making PANW about 1.1% of its portfolio. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with 39 Buy ratings and 11 Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $398.55.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year, and earnings of $1.02 per share versus the $0.98 estimate. However, insiders sold 54,210 shares worth $20.8 million over the past three months.

Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,321 shares of the network technology company's stock, valued at approximately $3,306,000. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.1% of Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atticus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 29.8% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 10.3% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 18,286 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,712 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.0% in the third quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 931 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 15.1% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 451 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 56.5% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 2,274 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $430.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ PANW traded up $12.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $353.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,850,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,119,772. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $371.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.63. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $288.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 691.76, a PEG ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc NASDAQ: PANW is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company's portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.

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