Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: Community Trust & Investment Co. Trims Holdings

Key Points

• Community Trust & Investment Co. reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 19% in the third quarter, selling 21,863 shares and retaining 92,964 shares valued at approximately $36.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $1.02 versus the $0.98 consensus and revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $393.02 versus the reported share price of $370.27; insiders sold about $20.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Community Trust & Investment Co. cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 19.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,964 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 21,863 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.8% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $36,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in the second 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in 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 worth $2,993,802,000 after buying an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,036,648,000 after acquiring an additional 273,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:PANW opened at $370.27 on Friday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.57 and a 52-week high of $432.33. The stock's 50-day moving average is $373.10 and its 200-day moving average is $300.73. The company has a market cap of $302.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 726.03, a P/E/G ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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 predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 price target (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $346.00 in a report on Monday, September 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price target (up from $410.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $393.02.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc is a cybersecurity company that provides solutions designed to help organizations protect networks, endpoints, cloud environments, applications and users from cyber threats. Its offerings include next-generation firewalls, cloud-delivered security services, secure access service edge (SASE) solutions, endpoint protection and security operations tools.

The company also provides platforms and services for cloud security, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability management and the automation of security operations.

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