Vestcor Inc Decreases Stock Position in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. $PANW

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc cut its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 26.4% in Q3, selling 6,879 shares and ending the quarter with 19,172 shares valued at $3.904 million.
• Several large institutions added to PANW—Norges Bank and ABN AMRO initiated multihundred‑million‑dollar positions, and Vanguard now owns 65,269,963 shares (about $13.29 billion); institutional investors hold roughly 79.82% of the stock.
• Company insiders have been net sellers: EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares (≈$23.07M) and insiders sold a total of 149,252 shares worth about $27.89M last quarter, leaving insiders with roughly 1.40% ownership.

Vestcor Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW - Free Report) by 26.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,172 shares of the network technology company's stock after selling 6,879 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Palo Alto Networks were worth $3,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PANW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Palo Alto Networks during the 2nd quarter valued at $675,865,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Palo Alto Networks in the second quarter worth $340,883,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Palo Alto Networks by 108.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,467,692 shares of the network technology company's stock worth $502,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282,738 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Palo Alto Networks by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,269,963 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $13,290,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Palo Alto Networks by 97.9% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,104,939 shares of the network technology company's stock valued at $430,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.82% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Palo Alto Networks news, EVP Dipak Golechha sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total value of $940,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 155,119 shares in the company, valued at $29,190,293.42. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,768 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.03, for a total transaction of $23,070,311.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 298,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,096,383.61. The trade was a 28.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 149,252 shares of company stock worth $27,888,535 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Palo Alto Networks Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:PANW opened at $165.58 on Wednesday. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $139.57 and a 52 week high of $223.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $170.80 and a 200-day moving average of $189.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.11 billion, a PE ratio of 91.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.78.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The network technology company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Palo Alto Networks had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 12.96%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. Palo Alto Networks has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.650-3.700 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.780-0.800 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PANW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $209.00 target price on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.19.

Palo Alto Networks Company Profile

Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ: PANW is a cybersecurity company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The firm develops a broad suite of security products and services designed to prevent successful cyberattacks and protect enterprise networks, clouds, and endpoints. Built around a platform strategy, its offerings target threat prevention, detection, response and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

The company's product portfolio includes next‑generation firewalls as a core on‑premises capability, alongside cloud‑delivered security services and software for securing public and private clouds.

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