Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Lifted by Kestra Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 5.2% in the third quarter, adding 8,148 shares to hold 165,023 shares valued at about $65.6 million. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the stock.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, beating the $0.98 consensus, while revenue of $3.41 billion topped estimates and rose 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $398.55. Company insiders sold 54,210 shares worth about $20.8 million over the last quarter.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,023 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,148 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $65,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. REAP Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 458 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. QTR Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. QTR Family Wealth LLC now owns 834 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 812 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 1,334 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $314.67 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $371.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.93. The stock has a market cap of $257.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 617.01, a P/E/G ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.96. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $432.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PANW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Capital One Financial raised their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $410.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $380.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total value of $336,312.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc NASDAQ: PANW is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company's portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.

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