MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 1,759 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9%, now owning 199,870 shares valued at approximately $34 million.
• Insider trading activity includes notable sales: EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares for over $1 million, indicating a 4.71% decrease in his position.
• Brokerages show optimism with several raising their target prices, including Barclays, which increased its target to $215.00 and Wells Fargo, which raised it to $235.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 199,870 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,759 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $34,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 2,271 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. GSG Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. GSG Advisors LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,047 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 3,084 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total value of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock valued at $126,552,277. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PANW. Scotiabank increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Roth Capital began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.52.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $185.88 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.15 and a 1-year high of $210.39. The stock has a market cap of $123.94 billion, a PE ratio of 115.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $190.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.32.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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.

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