Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Sold by BLB&B Advisors LLC

Key Points

• BLB&B Advisors cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 18.3% in the third quarter, selling 17,494 shares and retaining 78,114 shares worth approximately $31 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds still own 79.82% of PANW.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.55, while insiders have sold more than $20.8 million worth of shares over the past 90 days.

BLB&B Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,114 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 17,494 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.1% of BLB&B Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. BLB&B Advisors LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $31,036,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $1,968,304,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $1,569,755,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth approximately $1,481,236,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 16.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,476,753 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $3,603,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,101,267 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $394.49 on Thursday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $371.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.05. The company has a market cap of $322.69 billion, a PE ratio of 773.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.93.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.04. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on PANW shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 target price on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $355.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Benchmark raised their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $525.00 target price (up from $475.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Thirty-nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total transaction of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,760,300. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 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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