Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Reduces Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 17.9% in the first quarter, selling 5,211 shares and ending with 23,901 shares worth about $3.83 million.
• Several insiders sold shares, including directors Aparna Bawa and James J. Goetz, and insiders collectively sold 101,044 shares worth about $26.0 million over the last three months.
• Palo Alto Networks reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, while analysts remain broadly upbeat with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a target price of $306.59.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,901 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 5,211 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PANW. Princeton Capital Management LLC grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 4,823 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 4,310 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% in the third quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 16,938 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,449,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,227 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 536 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.00, for a total value of $150,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,704 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,157,120. The trade was a 6.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.90, for a total value of $5,598,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,598,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 101,044 shares of company stock worth $26,022,722 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PANW. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $268.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $325.00 target price (up from $285.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $209.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $335.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $306.59.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $287.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $234.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 235.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.57 and a 12 month high of $302.95. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $228.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The firm's revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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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