Belpointe Asset Management LLC Sells 7,596 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management trimmed its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 50.7%, selling 7,596 shares in Q4 and leaving 7,383 shares valued at about $1.36 million.
• Institutional investors own roughly 79.82% of PANW, with major holders like Vanguard and State Street increasing positions (Vanguard now holds ~65.27M shares worth $13.29B).
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $210.07, and Palo Alto recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.03 vs $0.94) while revenue rose 14.9% year‑over‑year.

Belpointe Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 50.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,383 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,596 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $1,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $6,055,031,000 after purchasing an additional 505,924 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,532,902,000 after purchasing an additional 36,511 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,037,320 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $822,079,000 after acquiring an additional 17,394 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $200.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.07.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 3.2%

PANW opened at $174.96 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $223.61. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.61. The stock has a market cap of $142.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 0.77.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.96% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.40, for a total transaction of $177,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 83,136 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,418,150.40. This represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 22,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.41, for a total value of $3,729,476.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,500 shares of the company's stock, 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 30,356 shares of company stock worth $4,981,575 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.

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 reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.