Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Holdings Reduced by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 18.1% in the third quarter, selling 414,881 shares and retaining 1.87 million shares valued at approximately $744.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks received generally positive analyst sentiment, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 50 analysts and an average price target of $398.55. Several firms recently raised their price targets, including Wells Fargo to $525.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.02 in adjusted EPS versus a $0.98 estimate and $3.41 billion in revenue, up 34.5% year over year. Shares opened at $365.87, while insiders sold more than $20.8 million worth of stock over the prior 90 days.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 18.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,874,031 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 414,881 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Palo Alto Networks worth $744,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Solstein Capital LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 125.0% in the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 81 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curry Webb Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total transaction of $373,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PANW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $525.00 price target (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 12th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $440.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $410.00 price target (up from $345.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of PANW stock opened at $365.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $299.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 717.41, a PEG ratio of 10.49 and a beta of 0.93. The business's fifty day moving average is $372.15 and its 200 day moving average is $269.89. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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. Research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company 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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