BDF Gestion Sells 3,697 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• BDF Gestion cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 14.5% in the second quarter, selling 3,697 shares and retaining 21,807 shares valued at approximately $7.4 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of PANW, while company insiders sold 101,239 shares worth $27.2 million over the past 90 days.
• Analysts maintain a bullish outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $332.57. Palo Alto Networks recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting 31.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

BDF Gestion lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,807 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 3,697 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.9% of BDF Gestion's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. BDF Gestion's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PANW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,415,364,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,603,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101,267 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659,100 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1,665.1% during the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,761,909 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $442,788,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 6,297,833 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,009,669,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528,299 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock valued at $27,174,360 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $333.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.57.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 5.5%

PANW opened at $366.34 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $368.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $311.92 and a 200-day moving average of $224.81. The stock has a market cap of $298.57 billion, a PE ratio of 300.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

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.

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