Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Position

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 126.6% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 18,600 shares valued at approximately $7.39 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with 38 Buy ratings and 12 Holds giving the stock a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $392.38.
• Palo Alto Networks exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in EPS versus a $0.98 estimate and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year. However, insiders sold 54,210 shares worth about $20.8 million over the past 90 days.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 126.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,600 shares of the network technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,392 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $7,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of PANW. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Palo Alto Networks by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 472 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,127 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wisconsin Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,206 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Palo Alto Networks by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at $30,859,455.90. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank downgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "sector outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Loop Capital increased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Thirty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $392.38.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $397.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $324.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 778.51, a P/E/G ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $432.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $372.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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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