Eastern Bank Decreases Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Eastern Bank reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 14.3% in the second quarter, selling 32,499 shares and retaining 194,344 shares valued at approximately $66.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus the $0.79 consensus estimate and revenue of $3.0 billion, up 31.1% year over year.
• Insiders sold 101,239 shares worth $27.2 million during the latest quarter, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $331.48.

Eastern Bank lowered its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 194,344 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 32,499 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $66,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 88.2% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 143 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 146 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 154 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,058,590. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.85, for a total value of $242,795.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This represents a 10.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $347.13 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $309.73 and a 200-day moving average of $223.57. The firm has a market cap of $282.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 284.53, a P/E/G ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.57 and a 1-year high of $368.80.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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. Sell-side analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $340.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $387.00 price objective (up from $320.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $331.48.

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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