Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock Sold by SFE Investment Counsel

Key Points

• SFE Investment Counsel reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 9.6% in the third quarter, selling 7,758 shares and retaining 72,775 shares valued at approximately $28.9 million.
• Institutional investors own 79.82% of PANW, with several major firms—including State Street, Bank of America, UBS and First Trust—adding to their positions.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $398.55. Palo Alto Networks also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.02 in EPS and $3.41 billion in revenue.

SFE Investment Counsel cut its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 9.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 72,775 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 7,758 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 4.1% of SFE Investment Counsel's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $28,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the 2nd 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 increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the 2nd 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 raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.4% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 273,103 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PANW shares. HSBC lowered their price target on Palo Alto Networks from $201.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Yorkville Ives initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, October 5th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $500.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $320.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

NASDAQ PANW opened at $365.87 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $372.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 717.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.49 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $432.33.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total value of $373,610.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,031,317.57. The trade was a 15.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,300. This trade represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029 over the last three months. Company 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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