Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Sells 29,767 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 8.6%, selling 29,767 shares during the first quarter and retaining 317,449 shares valued at approximately $50.9 million.
• Despite Liontrust’s reduction, major institutions including Vanguard, State Street, Bank of America and Geode increased their holdings; institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW, while insiders sold $27.2 million of stock over the past 90 days.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly revenue of $3 billion, up 31.1% year over year, and earnings of $0.85 per share, beating estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $331.48.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 317,449 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 29,767 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $50,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after purchasing an additional 594,789 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,603,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,101,267 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after purchasing an additional 540,756 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 4th quarter worth $1,415,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total transaction of $1,447,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 145,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,058,590. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Helle Thorning-Schmidt sold 700 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $242,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,045,721.30. This trade represents a 10.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 3.7%

PANW opened at $325.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $265.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 266.95, a PEG ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $368.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $306.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.46.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $300.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective (up from $340.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, July 13th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $180.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Arete Research increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $185.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $331.48.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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