Cresset Asset Management LLC Sells 9,795 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Cresset Asset Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. by 18.1%, selling 9,795 shares to own a total of 44,393 shares valued at $7,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
• Aparna Bawa, Director at Palo Alto Networks, sold 526 shares of the company's stock, while EVP Nir Zuk sold 100,000 shares, indicating insider selling activity.
• Equities research analysts have set a consensus price target of $217.79 for Palo Alto Networks stock, with a rating of "Moderate Buy" based on multiple analysts' assessments.

Cresset Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 18.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 44,393 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 9,795 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,625 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 1.9%

PANW stock traded up $3.3880 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $184.9480. The stock had a trading volume of 11,007,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,447,921. The firm has a market cap of $123.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.31, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 526 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $99,940.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,640,080. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 800 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.05, for a total value of $160,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 42,033 shares in the company, valued at $8,450,734.65. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 669,248 shares of company stock worth $126,423,337. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.