Sapient Capital LLC Decreases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Sapient Capital cut its Palo Alto Networks position by 14.7% in the third quarter, selling 19,777 shares and retaining 115,092 shares valued at approximately $45.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 79.82%, with major investors including State Street, Bank of America, UBS Asset Management and BlackRock holding or adding significant positions.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $391.32 price target. Palo Alto Networks also exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, reporting 34.5% year-over-year revenue growth.

Sapient Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 14.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,092 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 19,777 shares during the period. Palo Alto Networks accounts for approximately 0.6% of Sapient Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $45,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,833,462,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 4.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,979,497 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $12,610,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 0.9% during the second 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 8.7% in the second 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, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,968,304,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on PANW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $390.00 price objective (up from $371.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Palo Alto Networks from $434.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Roth Capital reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $300.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price (up from $400.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Thirty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $391.32.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ PANW traded down $7.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $398.50. 4,417,636 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,268,938. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $369.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.37. 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 firm has a market cap of $325.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 781.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.93. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $139.57 and a fifty-two week high of $432.33.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The network technology company reported $1.02 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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 was up 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. Analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.60, for a total value of $10,769,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,110,900. The trade was a 18.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Josh Paul sold 900 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 72,484 shares in the company, valued at $27,085,821.12. This trade represents a 1.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 53,960 shares of company stock worth $20,719,959 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

About Palo Alto Networks

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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