Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Lowers Stake

Key Points

• Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 20.8% in the third quarter, selling 5,800 shares and retaining 22,034 shares valued at about $8.75 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: 39 rate the stock a Buy and 11 a Hold, giving it a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $398.55.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $1.02 and revenue of $3.41 billion; revenue grew 34.5% year over year.

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 20.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,034 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 5,800 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for about 1.1% of Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $8,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. 71 West Capital Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.8% in the third quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 65,002 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $25,826,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.3% during the third quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 323,284 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $128,444,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Montis Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 7.3% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 673 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.4% during the third quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,333 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $5,297,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 1.5% during the third quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC now owns 2,934 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Key sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Capital One Financial increased their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $421.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $390.00 target price (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $345.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $330.89 on Tuesday. The stock 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.92 billion, a PE ratio of 648.82, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion during 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 business's revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. 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. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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