NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• NorthCrest Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.3% during the second quarter, now holding 47,469 shares valued at approximately $9.58 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in the company, with Brighton Jones LLC raising its stake by 147.7%, now owning 6,761 shares valued at $1.23 million.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.8% year-over-year revenue growth with a quarterly revenue of $2.54 billion, surpassing analysts' expectations.

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,469 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 1,606 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $9,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $261,000. Strive Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 16.6% during the first quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC now owns 2,099 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 10.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,125 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 6.4% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 161,840 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $33,119,000 after purchasing an additional 9,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.0% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 137,663 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $23,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,180 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. Piper Sandler upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp cut Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Twenty-nine research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.39.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 101,135 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total value of $23,081,119.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,008,788.94. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 568,622 shares of company stock worth $106,468,778. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $208.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,643,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,444,992. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $188.19 and a 200-day moving average of $186.35. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.15 and a 52-week high of $210.39.

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