Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Acquired by Truist Financial Corp

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in Q4, acquiring 14,004 shares and totaling 793,903 shares (about 0.11% of the company) valued at approximately $146.24 million.
• Palo Alto Networks beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $1.03 vs. $0.94 and revenue of $2.59 billion (up 14.9% year‑over‑year); the stock trades with a market cap of $147.78 billion and a P/E of 100.05.
• Institutional ownership stands at 79.82%—led by large holders like Vanguard (67.93M shares, ~$12.51B)—and analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus with a consensus price target of $210.07.

Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 793,903 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,004 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.11% of Palo Alto Networks worth $146,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,929,063 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,512,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659,100 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,736,916 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $6,055,031,000 after acquiring an additional 505,924 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 0.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,528,248 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,532,902,000 after acquiring an additional 36,511 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 11.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,906,963 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,202,776,000 after acquiring an additional 611,375 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,356,617 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $802,691,000 after acquiring an additional 319,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $181.10 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.77. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $223.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $163.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.00.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.Palo Alto Networks's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 1,572 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.32, for a total value of $272,459.04. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,466,400. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.42, for a total value of $802,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 150,250 shares in the company, valued at $24,103,105. This trade represents a 3.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 30,356 shares of company stock valued at $4,981,575 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised Palo Alto Networks to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.07.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PANW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.