Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: VMS Asset Management Limited Lowers Position

Key Points

• VMS Asset Management cut its Palo Alto Networks stake by 39.2% in the third quarter, selling 9,420 shares and retaining 14,630 shares worth approximately $5.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $392.38; 38 analysts rate the stock a Buy versus 12 Holds.
• Palo Alto Networks reported quarterly EPS of $1.02, surpassing the $0.98 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.41 billion exceeded forecasts and rose 34.5% year over year. The stock opened at $375.04, near its 50-day moving average of $372.88.

VMS Asset Management Limited lowered its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,630 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 9,420 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises 2.3% of VMS Asset Management Limited's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. VMS Asset Management Limited's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 15.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 410,401 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $65,796,000 after buying an additional 53,485 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter worth $353,000. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the second quarter valued at $2,159,000. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 43.6% during the first quarter. Granite Islands Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,342 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 1.6% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 240,029 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $95,366,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PANW. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Mizuho set a $415.00 price objective on Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. FBN Securities reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Thirty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $392.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Palo Alto Networks news, Director John P. Key sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.03, for a total value of $940,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,300. The trade was a 20.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total value of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,859,455.90. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,029. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Stock Performance

Palo Alto Networks stock opened at $375.04 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $372.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.16. 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 has a market cap of $306.78 billion, a PE ratio of 735.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.93. 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 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 company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 2.67%. Palo Alto Networks's quarterly revenue was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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, equities research analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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