Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Shares Sold by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Key Points

• Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 0.9% in the first quarter, selling 2,874 shares and ending with 299,698 shares valued at about $48.0 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains upbeat, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.74; several firms recently raised their targets, including Rosenblatt, RBC, Morgan Stanley, and Loop Capital.
• Palo Alto Networks posted a strong quarter, reporting EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $3.0 billion, both ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year.

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI trimmed its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 299,698 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 2,874 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $48,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,331,705 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,587,100,000 after acquiring an additional 594,789 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 19,375,486 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $3,568,964,000 after buying an additional 2,065,776 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,989,257 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,934,935,000 after acquiring an additional 540,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,415,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PANW shares. FBN Securities reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $275.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $160.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $255.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $253.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $327.74.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $348.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $284.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 285.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.91. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a one year low of $139.57 and a one year high of $368.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $292.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.62.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The network technology company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.95%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.770-3.790 EPS and its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.960-0.980 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.56, for a total value of $1,447,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,058,590. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.08, for a total value of $313,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 81,636 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,272,790.88. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 101,239 shares of company stock worth $27,174,360 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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.

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