Compass Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Compass Capital Management cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,043 shares and leaving it with 73,794 shares worth about $13.6 million.
• Despite some institutional trimming, Palo Alto Networks continues to attract analyst support: several firms recently raised price targets, and the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $306.59.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.85 EPS on $3.0 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year; however, the stock still trades at a rich valuation and insiders have sold shares recently.

Compass Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,794 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 16,043 shares during the period. Compass Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $13,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 176 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Harold Davidson & Associates Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 4,823 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total transaction of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 150,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 62,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.65, for a total value of $16,270,119.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 235,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,037,002.95. The trade was a 21.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 72,076 shares of company stock valued at $17,930,587 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Palo Alto Networks News

Here are the key news stories impacting Palo Alto Networks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank nudged its FY2027 EPS estimate higher for PANW, signaling modest confidence in longer-term earnings growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary on Prisma AIRS suggests AI security is gaining traction and could boost revenue growth and deal size.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader cybersecurity-sector coverage remains constructive, with analysts and institutions still favoring the group amid rising AI-related security demand.
• Neutral Sentiment: Northland Securities kept a $302 price target and Market Perform rating while issuing a range of earnings estimates, indicating a cautious but not bearish stance.
• Negative Sentiment: Northland also trimmed some near- and mid-term EPS forecasts for PANW, reflecting lingering concern about profitability assumptions and valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: PANW still trades at a demanding valuation, so any slowdown in AI-security momentum could increase volatility.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $279.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $214.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.58. The company has a market capitalization of $227.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 229.12, a PEG ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $302.95.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (up from $285.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $220.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $212.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $340.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $306.59.

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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