Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Holdings Lowered by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Washington Trust Advisors reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 7.1% in the third quarter, selling 16,161 shares and retaining 212,446 shares worth approximately $84.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks shares rose 7.2% to $380.55, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.02 and revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive, with 39 analysts rating the stock a Buy and 11 a Hold. The shares have a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $398.55.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 7.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 212,446 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 16,161 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 6.0% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $84,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% in 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in 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 worth $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 increased its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,968,304,000. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Up 7.2%

Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $25.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $380.55. The stock had a trading volume of 6,579,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,277,336. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $369.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 746.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $432.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PANW has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $245.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Palo Alto Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at $30,859,455.90. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

Palo Alto Networks, Inc NASDAQ: PANW is a global cybersecurity company that helps organizations protect networks, cloud environments, endpoints, and digital infrastructure. Its offerings are designed to prevent cyberattacks, identify security risks, monitor activity, and support incident response across enterprise, government, and service-provider environments.

The company's portfolio includes network security products such as next-generation firewalls and security operations tools; Prisma, its cloud security platform; and Cortex, a suite focused on endpoint protection, threat detection, security analytics, and automated response.

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