Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 7,855 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.4%, selling 7,855 shares and now owning 85,776 shares valued at approximately $14.6 million.
• Numerous hedge funds have increased their stakes in Palo Alto Networks, with Nuveen LLC purchasing a new stake worth about $810 million during the first quarter.
• Palo Alto Networks has received mixed ratings from analysts, with an average consensus price target of $218.86 and a rating of "Moderate Buy" based on recent evaluations.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,776 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,855 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $14,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth about $810,047,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 92.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,951,283 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,082,895,000 after buying an additional 2,862,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 18,802.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,410,290 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $411,292,000 after buying an additional 2,397,539 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $185.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total transaction of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,450,734.65. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 669,248 shares of company stock valued at $126,423,337. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $181.56 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $191.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.12, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 12.30%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.