Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW Stock: Western Financial Corp CA Boosts Position

Key Points

• Western Financial Corp CA increased its Palo Alto Networks position by 2,114.4% in the third quarter, ending with 14,349 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.82% of PANW shares.
• Palo Alto Networks beat quarterly expectations with $1.02 EPS versus $0.98 expected and revenue of $3.41 billion, up 34.5% year over year.
• PANW shares recently traded at $375.04, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $392.38; insiders sold about $20.8 million of stock over the past three months.

Western Financial Corp CA grew its position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 2,114.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,349 shares of the network technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,701 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks makes up 1.9% of Western Financial Corp CA's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Western Financial Corp CA's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $5,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $12,610,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493,179 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 205,123 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 706,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 273,103 shares during the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.68, for a total transaction of $336,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 72,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,085,821.12. The trade was a 1.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 54,210 shares of company stock worth $20,823,029 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded down $21.99 on Wednesday, hitting $375.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,137,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,197,519. The company has a market capitalization of $306.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 735.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $139.57 and a 1 year high of $432.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $372.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 2.67% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 34.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PANW shares. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $253.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $326.00 to $384.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up from $335.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Thirty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $392.38.

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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