Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Boosts Position

Key Points

• Motley Fool Asset Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 12.9% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 57,025 shares valued at approximately $22.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of the company.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly revenue of $3.41 billion and earnings of $1.02 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue rose 34.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55, although insiders sold more than 54,000 shares worth approximately $20.8 million during the quarter.

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 12.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,025 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,534 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up approximately 0.9% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $22,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. B&D White Capital Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the first quarter valued at $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,159,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $95,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 126.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 18,600 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $7,390,000 after purchasing an additional 10,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 14,641 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $2,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $394.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $322.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 773.52, a PEG ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $371.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.05. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $432.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share 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 company's revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last 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 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. HSBC decreased their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Palo Alto Networks from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $346.00 in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,825,163.56. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was 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 a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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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