Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: AlphaCore Capital LLC Grows Position

Key Points

• AlphaCore Capital increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 19.2% in the third quarter, adding 9,394 shares to hold 58,326 shares valued at about $23.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, beating the $0.98 consensus, while revenue of $3.41 billion topped estimates and rose 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts hold a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average price target of $398.55; 39 analysts rate the stock Buy and 11 rate it Hold.

AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,326 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,394 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $23,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 205,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW stock opened at $330.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $369.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.33. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 168.95, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.96.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC cut their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This trade represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, cloud environments, devices and applications. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud security tools, secure access services and platforms for detecting and responding to cyber threats.

The company's product portfolio includes Prisma for cloud and network security and Cortex for security operations, including threat detection and response. It also provides cybersecurity consulting and incident-response services through Unit 42.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Palo Alto Networks serves businesses, government agencies and other organizations around the world.

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