Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Position Reduced by Arvest Investments Inc.

Key Points

• Arvest Investments cut its Palo Alto Networks position by 26.8% in the third quarter, selling 2,998 shares and retaining 8,208 shares valued at approximately $3.26 million.
• Institutional investors own 79.82% of PANW, while insiders have sold 54,210 shares worth about $20.8 million over the past 90 days.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with 39 Buy ratings and 11 Holds, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $398.55. The company also beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.02 EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue.

Arvest Investments Inc. decreased its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 26.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,208 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,998 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,681,876 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $7,734,973,000 after buying an additional 205,123 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,778,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,993,802,000 after buying an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at $30,859,455.90. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of PANW opened at $347.25 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average is $370.23 and its 200 day moving average is $305.93. The company has a market capitalization of $284.05 billion, a PE ratio of 165.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $432.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm's 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. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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