Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Grows Stake

Key Points

• NorthCrest Asset Management increased its Palo Alto Networks stake by 4.3% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 108,772 shares valued at approximately $43.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, exceeding the $0.98 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.41 billion topped expectations and rose 34.5% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 38 Buy ratings and 12 Holds and a consensus price target of $392.38; however, insiders sold 54,210 shares worth about $20.8 million over the last quarter.

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,772 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 1.0% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $43,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,493,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during 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 buying an additional 205,123 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 706,003 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,466,118 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,036,648,000 after buying an additional 273,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Down 3.6%

PANW stock opened at $403.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $372.02 and a 200-day moving average of $295.90. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $432.33. The company has a market capitalization of $330.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 791.84, a PEG ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The company's revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.28, for a total value of $103,070.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,825,163.56. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total transaction of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,110,900. This represents a 18.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PANW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Palo Alto Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $253.00 to $351.00 in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $370.00) 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 boosted their target price for the company from $320.00 to $346.00 in a report on Monday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $430.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $392.38.

Palo Alto Networks Profile

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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