Quantbot Technologies LP Sells 17,447 Shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has reduced its position in Palo Alto Networks by 59.7%, selling 17,447 shares and holding 11,768 shares valued at approximately $2,008,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Palo Alto Networks, with notable raises including Cornerstone Select Advisors and Alpha Family Trust, reflecting a strong interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts have a positive outlook on Palo Alto Networks, with an average price target of $211.52 and 28 analysts rating it as a Buy, indicating strong projected growth potential.

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 59.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,768 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 17,447 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,775,544 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $10,712,019,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541,637 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 133.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,842,647 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,427,048,000 after buying an additional 4,486,654 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,277,739 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,324,387,000 after buying an additional 1,088,631 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,235,406 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,234,650,000 after buying an additional 2,134,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,158,580 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $1,120,615,000 after buying an additional 3,047,625 shares in the last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In other Palo Alto Networks news, CAO Josh D. Paul sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.20, for a total transaction of $128,940.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,723 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,948,576.60. This represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.85, for a total transaction of $1,009,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,135 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,414,099.75. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 669,948 shares of company stock worth $126,552,277 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Palo Alto Networks stock traded up $2.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $185.88. 6,857,662 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,063,346. The company has a market cap of $123.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.32. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.15 and a fifty-two week high of $210.39.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 12.30% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-3.850 EPS. Q1 2026 guidance at 0.880-0.900 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PANW. KeyCorp cut shares of Palo Alto Networks from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $235.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Northland Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $210.00 to $177.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.52.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.