Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 6.2%, selling 119,106 shares, which left it with approximately 1,802,813 shares valued at $307,632,000.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Palo Alto Networks, with an average price target of $211.68, as 28 analysts have issued Buy ratings.
• Palo Alto Networks reported a 15.8% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, reaching $2.54 billion, and exceeded earnings estimates with $0.95 EPS against a forecast of $0.89.

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,802,813 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 119,106 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.27% of Palo Alto Networks worth $307,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. SWAN Capital LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. SWAN Capital LLC now owns 200 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Piper Sandler raised Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.68.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $191.53 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average is $188.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.15 and a 1 year high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,723 shares in the company, valued at $6,948,576.60. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.58, for a total value of $20,722,402.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 206,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,468,674.44. The trade was a 36.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 448,648 shares of company stock worth $83,548,499 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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.

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