Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter, now holding 178,496 shares valued at approximately $36.5 million.
• CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares on September 23rd, reflecting a significant decrease of 75.48% in his position.
• Analysts have set price targets for Palo Alto Networks ranging from $207.00 to $230.00, with an overall average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 178,496 shares of the network technology company's stock after buying an additional 48,232 shares during the quarter. Palo Alto Networks comprises about 1.2% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $36,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PANW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Palo Alto Networks during the first quarter valued at about $810,047,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $633,068,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,134,735 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 77.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,879,506 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $662,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 79.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 846,408 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.06, for a total value of $172,718,016.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 275,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,119,152.78. This trade represents a 75.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of Palo Alto Networks stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.11, for a total transaction of $23,081,119.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 177,954 shares in the company, valued at $34,008,788.94. This represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,315,130 shares of company stock worth $259,351,606 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective (up from $210.00) on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $223.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Thirty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Palo Alto Networks has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.64.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PANW opened at $207.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.09, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.98. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.15 and a 12 month high of $212.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $190.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.20.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 18th. The network technology company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. Analysts anticipate that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

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.

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