National Pension Service Sells 195,431 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• National Pension Service reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 9.1%, selling 195,431 shares in the second quarter and retaining 1.96 million shares valued at approximately $667 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, exceeding the $0.98 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year and ahead of expectations.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $386.32, compared with the stock’s reported opening price of $335.10.

National Pension Service decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,955,902 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 195,431 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.24% of Palo Alto Networks worth $667,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 568,804 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $104,774,000 after buying an additional 29,230 shares during the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter worth approximately $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $2,159,000. Finally, Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during the 1st quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $335.10 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $398.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $349.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $259.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 657.07, a P/E/G ratio of 9.73 and a beta of 0.91.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.160-4.190 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. FBN Securities restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Mizuho set a $415.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $386.32.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.00, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 79,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,477,180. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.24, for a total transaction of $2,094,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,490,500. This represents a 37.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 37,703 shares of company stock worth $10,900,823 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides security products and services to businesses, governments and other organizations worldwide. The company helps customers protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, applications and connected devices from cyber threats.

Its portfolio includes next-generation firewalls and network security technologies, as well as cloud-delivered security solutions such as Prisma Access and Prisma Cloud. Palo Alto Networks also offers Cortex products for endpoint protection, security operations, threat detection and response, and automation.

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