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

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Counsel reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 24.2% in the third quarter, selling 3,169 shares and retaining 9,914 shares valued at approximately $3.94 million.
• Institutional investors own 79.82% of PANW, with major holders including State Street, Bank of America, UBS Asset Management and First Trust increasing their positions.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02 and revenue of $3.41 billion, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 34.5% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $395.25.

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,914 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 3,169 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks comprises 0.9% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PANW. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,493,179 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings 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 valued at $7,734,973,000 after purchasing 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% during 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 purchasing an additional 706,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 273,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:PANW traded up $4.95 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $346.95. 4,595,061 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,170,998. The company has a market capitalization of $283.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 680.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.84 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 company's 50 day moving average is $371.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.36. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.57 and a twelve month high of $432.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.41 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aparna Bawa sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.61, for a total value of $373,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,031,317.57. This trade represents a 15.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Goetz sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total transaction of $7,533,600.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PANW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Palo Alto Networks from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wedbush initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $415.00 price target on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $350.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.25.

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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