Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S has decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 47.2%, owning now 25,310 shares valued at approximately $4.32 million.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position by 2.5%, now owning over 62 million shares worth about $10.71 billion, while other institutional investors have also significantly boosted their holdings in the company.
• Despite some share sales by insiders, Palo Alto Networks is projected to achieve a 12.30% net margin and has issued positive earnings guidance with expectations to post an EPS of 1.76 for the current year.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S trimmed its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 47.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,310 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 22,657 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $4,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $10,712,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,541,637 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,427,048,000 after acquiring an additional 4,486,654 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,324,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,631 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,234,650,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,120,615,000 after acquiring an additional 3,047,625 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of PANW stock traded up $2.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $185.88. The company had a trading volume of 6,857,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,063,346. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.15 and a twelve month high of $210.39. The company has a market capitalization of $123.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $190.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 12.30%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $217.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp downgraded Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $212.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. The trade was a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total value of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at $20,414,099.75. The trade was a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock worth $126,552,277. Company 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.