Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: WASHINGTON TRUST Co Trims Position

Key Points

• WASHINGTON TRUST Co. reduced its Palo Alto Networks stake by 2.3% in the third quarter, selling 4,340 shares and retaining 185,096 shares valued at approximately $73.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW.
• Insiders sold 54,210 shares worth about $20.8 million over the past three months, including sales by the chief accounting officer and a director.
• PANW shares rose 7.2% to $380.55, while analysts maintained a generally positive outlook: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $398.55 average price target. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue up 34.5% year over year.

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 185,096 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 4,340 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for 2.2% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $73,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. XXI Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 72.2% in the 3rd quarter. XXI Wealth LLC now owns 5,274 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. MLP3 LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. MLP3 LLC now owns 1,976 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,547 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $4,588,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $395.70, for a total transaction of $158,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 77,987 shares in the company, valued at $30,859,455.90. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James J. Goetz sold 20,000 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.68, for a total value of $7,533,600.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Friday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Palo Alto Networks from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $375.00 price target (up from $370.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $450.00 price target (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.55.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 7.2%

NASDAQ PANW traded up $25.63 on Friday, reaching $380.55. The stock had a trading volume of 6,579,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,277,336. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 746.19, a P/E/G ratio of 10.21 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. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.57 and a 12-month high of $432.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $369.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $307.79.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm's 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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